Pope Francis has been named 2013 Person of the Year by Time magazine – edging out NSA whistleblower and fugitive Edward Snowden into second place.

Pope Francis, 76, who was elected in March to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, was announced as the winner this morning by Time magazine editor Nancy Gibbs on the Today show.

The other five final contenders in the running for the prestigious honor were President of Syria, Bashar Assad, Texas Tea Party champion Senator Ted Cruz and gay rights activist Edith Windsor whose Supreme Court victory led to the fall of the Defense of Marriage Act.

The title last year went to President Barack Obama, who also won in 2008 and in 2011, the respected news magazine awarded the title to the Protester, in recognition of their revolutionary role in the Arab Spring that year.

Describing Francis’ transformative role in his short time as pontiff, Time magazine said that ‘Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly.’

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Today in a statement that ‘the Holy Father is not looking to become famous or to receive honors.

‘But if the choice of Person of Year helps spread the message of the gospel — a message of God’s love for everyone — he will certainly be happy about that.’