Plan B Forum

Personally, I don't think there's anyone else in 2013 who could have come close as a choice:

Pope Francis named Time's 2013 Person of the Year



Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pontiff who won hearts and headlines with his humility and common touch, was named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2013, the magazine revealed Wednesday on TODAY.

The iconic title goes every year to the individual chosen by Time editors as someone who has had the most impact on the world and the news — for better or worse — over the past year.

Pope Francis stood out "as someone who has changed the tone and perception and focus of one of the world largest institutions in an extraordinary way," Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs said Wednesday.

"So much of what he has done in his brief nine months in office has really changed the tone that is coming out of the Vatican. He is saying, 'We are about the healing mission of the church, and not about the theological police work that had maybe been preoccupying us.'"

The magazine staff makes the ultimate decision, Gibbs said, but they poll readers and take public opinion into account. This was the third time Time named a pope as its Person of the Year.

More of the article: http://www.today.com/news/pope-francis- ... 2D11723759

He is a good choice.
But of course someone will come along and bring up the molestations that happened and/or bash on the Catholic Church for some of their views.

I think he's laid the foundation for some significant changes in the RC Church, but how this will effect the broader world remains to be seen. I think the Person of the Year title is a bit premature.

He hasn't done anything yet but so far he suggests that he will make some positive changes.

yrs,
rubato

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was runner-up.

Damn, so close....

oldr_n_wsr wrote:He is a good choice.
But of course someone will come along and bring up the molestations that happened and/or bash on the Catholic Church for some of their views.

And that someone is you oldr...

Gob wrote:

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was runner-up.

Damn, so close....

He is The Guardian Person of the Year

NSA whistleblower American traitor Edward Snowden was runner-up.

Fixed.

He is The Guardian Person of the Year

He ought to be Pravda's Person Of the year.

The Pope only signaled what he might do in the future, and with no personal sacrifice and difficulty. Snowden actually effected change at great personal danger and considerable cost.

yrs,
rubato

I don't know why you're dissin' the Pope rube...

You two have something in common; apparently he used to do the same job you have now: (No, not the bouncer bit)

During a four-hour visit to a church near Rome on Sunday, Pope Francis shared with parishioners some of the finer points of his résumé, including a stint working as a bouncer.

The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, reported that the pope told a group of parishioners at the church of San Cirillo Alessandrino about his earlier jobs, which also included sweeping floors and running laboratory tests, according to a report from the Catholic News Service.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/shareitno ... z2nGebxeSx

As a "more or less" practicing Catholic, I see essentially all of his impact so far as window dressing - nothing more. The positions of the Church on, for example, contraception, abortion, homosexual sodomy, gay marriage, and recreational drug use, have not changed at all, and they won't change in the foreseeable future.

He is a proponent of "Liberation Theology," as are most of the Church hierarchy from his part of the world, so some of his rhetoric pleases the ear of communists, socialists, and America's "Progressives." But again, this is window dressing, not substantive. Don't expect the Church to start selling off its real estate or art treasures to provide for "The Poor."

A truely progressive Pope would be looking into female ordination, ordination of married men, and "adjusting" the Church's formal position on artificial birth control, as well as sanctioning the pragmatic use of condoms in geographical areas plagued by AIDS. Those initiatives are not contrary to any Biblical mandates and could be justified, theologically speaking.

But I don't expect any movement in these areas while I'm still alive.

Pope Frank is as deserving of this "honor" as was Barry of getting the Nobel Peace Prize.