Pope Francis beats twerking Miley Cyrus to be named Time's 2013 Person of the Year Pope Francis takes honor for his transformative changes to the tone of the Catholic church on social issues Was named ahead of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and gay rights activist Edith Windsor Syria President Bashar Assad was controversially named 4th in the annual poll Tea Party darling Ted Cruz was named 5th in the poll No victory for Miley Cyrus - despite leading in online polls 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 - no doubt bringing a sigh of relief to those who feared that singer Miley Cyrus of twerking infamy could be propelled to first place by a swell of internet votes. 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. 'So much of what he has done in the brief nine months in this office changed the tone of what's coming out of the Vatican,' said Gibbs this morning about the person who Time editors dubbed 'The People's Pope' who they believe had the most effect on the news this year, for good or for bad. 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. Honor: Pope Francis has been named as Time magazine's person of the year for 2013 for his changes to the tone of the Catholic church on social issues 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.' 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. This year the voting process has come under severe scrutiny - with the potentially embarrassing choice of singer Miley Cyrus coming after an online poll was opened. Twerking her way to infamy at the VMA's in August, Cyrus was leading the polls along with hated Syrian leader Assad and NSA whistleblower and alleged traitor Edward Snowden. 'It was a very interesting choice this year,' said managing editor Nancy Gibbs on Wednesday. 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.