This is irony. Time Magazine which has so often declared the Church irrelevant and doomed to disappear, now selects Pope Francis as their Person of Year in order to seem relevant and avoid disappearing altogether.
The lesson to be learned: When you’ve only been around a few decades, don’t predict the demise of two thousand year old institutions. It doesn’t end well.
December 12, 2013 at 3:29 am
I published an earlier comment on what I thought about this but over at the Spectator one person said in their opinion Francis should not have been the Person of the Year but the Pope Emeritus for having the humility and courage to step down which has not happened for a long time. Also he mad the Church more aware of its unique Catholic Identity and Sacred Heritage more to the attention with SP and AC as well as a Vocation Boom since his visit here in 2008. The point is while people are thrilled with Francis Benedict made them instead think and he was certainly more Popular than John Paul.
December 12, 2013 at 6:33 pm
Katalina, I don't think we can assume humility and courage were behind Benedict's decision to quit. Remember, he's never given the millions of world's catholics an explanation for his decision. All we know is it's not health related. It's fishy. In that respect, I agree, he'd be better on the cover of Time than Francis, but only if he'd explain himself in the interview.
December 12, 2013 at 7:57 pm
It's because they hate the Church and what she stands for that they've chosen Pope Francis as "Person of the Year".