Time magazine names new pope Francis its Person of the Year

Time magazine selected Pope Francis as its Person of the Year yesterday, saying the Catholic Church's new leader has changed the perception of the 2,000-year-old institution in an extraordinary way in a short time.

The pope beat US intelligence whistle-blower Edward Snowden for the distinction, which the news magazine has been handing out each year since 1927.

The former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected in March as the first pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit.

Since taking over at the Vatican, he has urged the Catholic Church not to be obsessed with "small-minded rules" and to emphasise compassion over condemnation in dealing with controversial topics like abortion, gays and contraception.

He has denounced the world's "idolatry of money" and the "global scandal" that nearly a billion people today go hungry, and has charmed the masses with his simple style and wry sense of humour.

"He really stood out to us as someone who has changed the tone and the perception and the focus of one of the world's largest institutions in an extraordinary way," said Nancy Gibbs, the magazine's managing editor.