For the third time in its 86-year history of choosing a "Person of the Year," Time magazine chose a pope for the honor. Pope Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,200 years, won out against National Security Agency contractor-turned-leaker Edward Snowden to take the title.

Pope Francis, formerly Cardinal and Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is only the third of three popes to take the title of “Person of the year.” Preceding Pope Francis was Pope John XXIII in 1963, and Pope John Paul II in 1994.

On the Time magazine’s website, Time editor Nancy Gibbs would say in an editorial, “In his nine months in office, he has placed himself at the very center of the central conversations of our time: about wealth and poverty, fairness and justice, transparency, modernity, globalization, the role of women, the nature of marriage, the temptations of power.” Gibbs went on to say, “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.”

The Vatican was not surprised by Time’s choice but said that “The Holy Father is not looking to become famous or to receive honors.” according to Vatican Spokesman Reverend Federico Lombardi. He also stated that if the honor served to help spread the message of the Gospel, the pope would “certainly be happy about that.”

Born in December of 1936 in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was selected for his Vatican position in March as the first latin Pope. In the short time he has been Pope, Pope Francis had gone far in changing the world’s perception of the Roman Catholic Church. Throughout his life he has shown great concern for the poor and marginalized.

Pope Francis has called on the church to balance its divisive rules on abortion, gays and contraception and states that he wants a less judgemental church saying, that the church has “locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules.”