Pope Francis Man of the Year 2013 [All-in-one Super-de-dooper thread]

efb

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25336696

Pope Francis has been named Person of the Year by Time magazine.

During his nine months in office, the Pope had pulled "the papacy out of the palace and into the streets", managing editor Nancy Gibbs said.

"Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly - young and old, faithful and cynical," she added.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was runner-up.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the then cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, was made Pope last March. He named himself Francis after a 12th Century Italian saint who turned his back on an aristocratic lifestyle to work with the poor.

Deserved I'd say

MJ23

Good man Franco

Ruu

Quick, find some Irish lineage, maybe we can salvage something from the year!

What has Pope Francis actually done? I mean I get it that he's better than the last guy, but what has he done to deserve person of the year? I would much rather Malala Yousafzai get it, for her work in Afghanistan at such a young age or many other people who would be more deserving.

efb

Francis has made a siesmic shift in Catholic Hierarchy focus, this is a very good thing.

Micky Dolenz

Deleted User wrote: »

What has Pope Francis actually done? I mean I get it that he's better than the last guy, but what has he done to deserve person of the year? I would much rather Malala Yousafzai get it, for her work in Afghanistan at such a young age or many other people who would be more deserving.

Can you name who got it the last 5 years? Did they deserve it, and why?

kerry4sam

No better Choice than Pope Francis Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2013

linkie

Johro

Leaders/members of organised religion of any kind make me want to scream shut the f#ck up.

wp_rathead

efb wrote: »

Francis has made a siesmic shift in Catholic Hierarchy focus, this is a very good thing.

ya but... PERSON OF THE YEAR?

Agree with boney that Malala Yousafzai deserved it - extraordinary young woman

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Miley Cyrus was on the 'shortlist' for this which makes me kinda want to drown some kittens in a bathtub chanting praise to Satan for some reason.

Tin Foil Hat

efb wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25336696



Deserved I'd say

Deserved what? It isn't an award - more of statement of newsworthiness.

Rabelais

An inspirational man. Bringing the very humanistic concepts of Christianity to a wider audience. A true reformer. Less focusing on the matters of the bedroom, and more on how we exist as sentient beings on this planet. If I was to have any criticism of him, it's that he believes in Socialism as a fundamentally humanistic concept.

Very positive though. A true thought leader.

I can, but only because I was looking at it previously - I was almost certain they made the EU person of the year, but that was evidently something else. Didn't Mark Zuckerberg win it over Julian Assange?

bumper234

He was only given it because Time were too chicken to upset the Americans and hand it to Snowden.

efb

Deleted User wrote: »

I can, but only because I was looking at it previously - I was almost certain they made the EU person of the year, but that was evidently something else. Didn't Mark Zuckerberg win it over Julian Assange?

EU won the Peace Prize

efb

I love that in '98 they gave it to Bill Clinton and Ken Starr equally - just how the latter effectively opened the door for the former's impeachment.

efb wrote: »

EU won the Peace Prize

That's the one! I knew the EU had been given something ridiculous.

jobeenfitz

Obviously being delusional doesn't prevent someone getting that award.

Blue Crystal

[Deleted User] wrote: »

What has Pope Francis actually done? I mean I get it that he's better than the last guy, but what has he done to deserve person of the year? I would much rather Malala Yousafzai get it, for her work in Afghanistan at such a young age or many other people who would be more deserving.

Oh dear.I think you need to wake up and see that girl is a western propaganda tool

Cienciano

bumper234 wrote: »

He was only given it because Time were too chicken to upset the Americans and hand it to Snowden.

Yes. Here's what person of the year is:

Person of the Year (formerly Man of the Year) is an annual issue of the United States newsmagazine Time that features and profiles a person, group, idea or object that "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year

But Osama Bin Laden never won it?

vitani

I wouldn't be a huge fan of the Catholic Church but so far, I am a fan of Pope Francis. He seems to practice what he preaches and even if it's all just PR, it's a refreshing change.

Micky Dolenz

jobeenfitz wrote: »

Obviously being delusional doesn't prevent someone getting that award.

How so?

krudler

Deleted User wrote: »

What has Pope Francis actually done? I mean I get it that he's better than the last guy, but what has he done to deserve person of the year? I would much rather Malala Yousafzai get it, for her work in Afghanistan at such a young age or many other people who would be more deserving.

Not being a gigantic twat like the last one is seemingly enough. As far as popes go he seems alright

B.A._Baracus

A person from the chruch getting named man of the year? que athiest snarky comments in ..

5....
4.....
3....
2.....
1....

wp_rathead

wait just read the article!

these two gob****es were on shortlist:
"US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad"
:eek:

Shouldn't be surprised mind, Time did award Hitler Person of Year in 1938

Tin Foil Hat

IT'S NOT A AWARD.

wprathead

wprathead wrote: »

wait just read the article!

these two gob****es were on shortlist:
"US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad"
:eek:

Shouldn't be surprised mind, Time did award Hitler Person of Year in 1938

And Hitler deserved it in 1938.

I'm more surprised that Miley Cyrus was actually on the shortlist!

thee glitz

Deleted User wrote: »

And Hitler deserved it in 1938.

I'm more surprised that Miley Cyrus was actually on the shortlist!

That's it though, I think - it's not necessarily a good award,
more about being influential / in the public eye.

jobeenfitz

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

How so?

He believes in the god fairytale, Thats delusional.

wp_rathead

Deleted User wrote: »

And Hitler deserved it in 1938.

I'm more surprised that Miley Cyrus was actually on the shortlist!

Germany in 1938

The events of 1938, which a German document termed “The Fateful Year,” were part of the radicalization of the Nazis’ Jewish policy. During this year German expansionism escalated, and domestic preparations for war accelerated. The crackdown on Jews took on an increased ferocity, viewed as part of the overall political and ideological course. Throughout the year registration of Jewish property and its forced expropriation increased. The Nazi Minister of Economics Walter Funk boasted that by 1938, the authorities had managed to steal Jewish property worth two million marks.

On October 5, 1938, Jews’ passports were invalidated, and those who needed a passport for emigration purposes were given one marked with the letter J (Jude – Jew). Another law from 1938 required Jews who did not have a “typically Jewish name” to add one. Men were forced to add the name Israel and women Sarah so that they would be easily recognized as Jews.

On October 27, 1938, Nazi Germany carried out the brutal eviction of Jews with Polish citizenship – the first mass deportation of Jews. SS men drove children, elderly, and the sick across the Polish border; most of them were concentrated in abandoned stables near the border town of Zbaszyn, Poland. The deportation to Zbaszyn was directly connected with the pogrom of “Kristallnacht” – a central anti-Jewish event that took place on November 9-10, 1938. While Nazi propaganda claimed that it was a spontaneous outburst, in reality it had been planned and implemented by the highest echelons of the Nazi leadership. The signal was given by Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels and was carried out by members of the Nazi regime. During the pogrom 91 Jews were murdered, more than 1,400 synagogues across Germany were torched, and Jewish-owned shops and businesses were plundered and destroyed. In addition, the Jews were forced to pay “compensation” for the damage that had been caused and approximately 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

B.A._Baracus

jobeenfitz wrote: »

He believes in the god fairytale, Thats delusional.

.. and it begins :rolleyes:

Micky Dolenz

jobeenfitz wrote: »

He believes in the god fairytale, Thats delusional.

Heh. Try and be more open to what other people believe, it will serve you well. I'm not saying believe it, just don't insult it.

Micky Dolenz

The entire list, while it is interesting reading, should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

Amirani

Snowden should've got it. Whatever you think of him, he's clearly made a bigger impact on the World over the past year. I'd probably have Assad ahead of the pope also.

jobeenfitz

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Heh. Try and be more open to what other people believe, it will serve you well. I'm not saying believe it, just don't insult it.

Thats a fair point but I still think it's a delusional belief. I just should not have called the person delusional.

Cian92

jobeenfitz wrote: »

He believes in the god fairytale, Thats delusional.

Oh Christ! The atheist has begun pontificating.

castletownman

And no sign of Davy Fitz amongst the nominations.

The world is gone mad

Neyite

efb wrote: »

Francis has made a siesmic shift in Catholic Hierarchy focus, this is a very good thing.

Rabelais wrote: »

An inspirational man. Bringing the very humanistic concepts of Christianity to a wider audience. A true reformer. Less focusing on the matters of the bedroom, and more on how we exist as sentient beings on this planet. If I was to have any criticism of him, it's that he believes in Socialism as a fundamentally humanistic concept.

Very positive though. A true thought leader.

He'll probably get bumped off like Pope John Paul I.

Cookie_Monster

efb wrote: »

Francis has made a siesmic shift in Catholic Hierarchy focus, this is a very good thing.

you mean they're going to give up their enormously cushy lives, get rid of all their wealth and live humbly as they actually preach?... No, didn't think so.

Jester252

NiallSparky wrote: »

Snowden should've got it. Whatever you think of him, he's clearly made a bigger impact on the World over the past year. I'd probably have Assad ahead of the pope also.

Snowden is only talked about on the internet, you rarely hear someone talking about him outside of the internet.

K-9

TIME's Person of the Year 2013 Pope Francis, The People's Pope | TIME.com

But what makes this Pope so important is the speed with which he has captured the imaginations of millions who had given up on hoping for the church at all. People weary of the endless parsing of sexual ethics, the buck-passing infighting over lines of authority when all the while (to borrow from Milton), “the hungry Sheep look up, and are not fed.” In a matter of months, Francis has elevated the healing mission of the church—the church as servant and comforter of hurting people in an often harsh world—above the doctrinal police work so important to his recent predecessors. John Paul II and Benedict XVI were professors of theology. Francis is a former janitor, nightclub bouncer, chemical technician and literature teacher.

As the article outlines, there isn't much hope for change with women priests, abortion or homosexuality but at least there's a more understanding side from this pope. I've lost faith with the church along time ago, doubt I'll be back any time soon, but he has been a breathe of fresh air this year, the humility rather touching, what a pope should be.

So, does he deserve the award, if not, who did?

Tigger

Jim Gavin

Red Kev

TIME person of the year doesn't necessarily go to the "best Person of the Year", it goes to the person who "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year" (wiki).

Hitler has won it in the past as have a few other of his ilk (Stalin, Ayatollah Khomeini)

What Pope Francis will achieve long term waits to be seen, but he has at least opened some discussions that until a few months ago were taboo in the Church.

On the basis of the past few months, he's the most progressive Pope we've have for decades, admittedly the competition hasn't been very challenging for that honour but it's a start.

dreamers75

Liam Buckley.

junkies4life.

wretcheddomain

It's the only time he'll be on top - it's all the way down for the Catholic Church and may it rot.

Manach

I think it is a positive move and hopefully re-engagement of with Catholic social teachings as a viable alternative as opposed to the liberal PCism mindset that is prevalent in today's society.

Amirani

Manach wrote: »

I think it is a positive move and hopefully re-engagement of with Catholic social teachings as a viable alternative as opposed to the liberal PCism mindset that is prevalent in today's society.

Shoe-in for comedian of the year.

Canis Lupus

PR man gets Time magazines person of the year.... meh..

Amirani

Jester252 wrote: »

Snowden is only talked about on the internet, you rarely hear someone talking about him outside of the internet.

It wouldn't just be Snowden that would be getting the "award", it'd be the concept of whistleblowing and defence of privacy. TIME has selected similar "people" before.

Can't remember the last time somebody talked to me about the pope either.

shruikan2553

So what has he actually done? Sure he talks a lot but what has changed? He got an opinion peace in the local newspaper? It's like obama getting the nobel peace prize years ago. I think I'll say I have an idea on how to create faster than light travel and get myself a nobel prize.

Arawn

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Heh. Try and be more open to what other people believe, it will serve you well. I'm not saying believe it, just don't insult it.

As the catholics did during the inquisition??


Pffft if you want to truely not insult another religion go become a monghul

banquo

Arawn wrote: »

As the catholics did during the inquisition??


Pffft if you want to truely not insult another religion go become a monghul

This is the saddest use of logic in an argument I have ever read.