Pope Francis

With his penchant for crowd-pleasing and spontaneous acts of compassion, Pope Francis has earned high praise from fellow Catholics and others since he replaced Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013.

Pope Francis

Bolivian President Evo Morales presents the Pope with a gift of a crucifix carved into a wooden hammer and sickle -- the Communist symbol uniting laborers and peasants -- in La Paz, Bolivia, on Wednesday, July 8.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis greets a crowd of Italian Catholic boy scouts and girl guides at St. Peter's Square on Saturday, June 13.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis meets with Cuban President Raul Castro at the Vatican on Sunday, May 10. Castro thanked the Pope for his role in brokering the rapprochement between Havana and Washington.

Pope Francis

The Pope prays face down on the floor of St. Peter's Basilica during Good Friday celebrations at the Vatican on Friday, April 3.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis touches a child's face as he arrives for a meeting in the Vatican on Friday, March 6.

Pope Francis

Hindu priest Kurakkal SivaSri T. Mahadeva presents a shawl to Pope Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, January 13.

Pope Francis

The Pope attends Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I address the faithful in Istanbul on Sunday, November 30.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis speaks during the feast-day Mass while on a one-day trip to the Calabrian region of Italy in June 2014. The Pope spoke out against the Mafia's "adoration of evil and contempt for the common good," and declared that "mafiosi are excommunicated, not in communion with God."

Pope Francis

The Pope meets faithfuls as he visits the San Gregorio Parish in Rome in April 2014.

Pope Francis

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with the Pope during their one-day visit to Rome in April 2014.

Pope Francis

Francis speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited the Vatican in March 2014.

Pope Francis

The Pope blesses the altar at Rome's Santa Sabina church as he celebrates Mass on Ash Wednesday in March 2014.

Pope Francis

Daniele De Sanctis, a 19-month-old child dressed up as a pope, is handed to Francis as the pontiff is driven through the crowd in St. Peter's Square in February 2014.

Pope Francis

Wind blows the papal skullcap off Pope Francis' head in February 2014.

Pope Francis

A lamb is placed around Francis' neck in January 2014 as he visits a living nativity scene staged at a church on the outskirts of Rome.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis meets with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Vatican in December 2013. Benedict surprised the world by resigning "because of advanced age." It was the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis marked his 77th birthday in December 2013 by hosting homeless men to a Mass and a meal at the Vatican. One of the men brought his dog.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis embraced Vinicio Riva, a disfigured man who suffers from a non-infectious genetic disease, during a public audience at the Vatican in November 2013. Riva then buried his head in the Pope's chest.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis jokes in November 2013 with members of the Rainbow Association, which uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages.

Pope Francis

A young boy hugs Francis as he delivers a speech in St. Peter's Square in October 2013. The boy, part of a group of children sitting around the stage, played around the Pope as the Pope continued his speech and occasionally patted the boy's head.

Pope Francis

Francis has eschewed fancy cars. Here, Father Don Renzo Zocca, second from right, offers his white Renault 4L to the Pope during a meeting at the Vatican in September 2013.

Pope Francis

Francis has his picture taken inside St. Peter's Basilica with youths who came to Rome for a pilgrimage in August 2013.

Pope Francis

During an impromptu news conference in July 2013, while on a plane from Brazil to Rome, the Pope said about gay priests, "Who am I to judge?" Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis

Crowds swarm the Pope as he makes his way through World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July 2013. According to the Vatican, 1 million people turned out to see the Pope.

Pope Francis

Francis frees a dove in May 2013 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

Pope Francis

Francis embraces a young boy with cerebral palsy in March 2013 -- a gesture that many took as a heartwarming token of the Pope's self-stated desire to "be close to the people."

Pope Francis

The Pope washes the feet of juvenile offenders, including Muslim women, as part of Holy Thursday rituals in March 2013. The act commemorates Jesus' washing of the Apostles' feet during the Last Supper.

Pope Francis

Francis stands at the reception desk of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI residence, where he paid the bill for his stay during the conclave that would elect him leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Pope Francis

Francis, formerly known as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected the Roman Catholic Church's 266th Pope in March 2013. The first pontiff from Latin America was also the first to take the name Francis.