Pope Francis Graces the Cover of Rolling Stone
Pope Francis, the humble yet wildly popular leader of the Roman Catholic Church, will be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine's Feb. 13 issue.
The cover article, "Pope Francis: The Times They Are A-Changin'," which was published Tuesday on Rolling Stone's website, addresses everything from Francis' rise to the papacy to his widely discussed comments about homosexuality and economics.
The lengthy piece, written by Mark Binelli, also discusses the pope's leadership approach and the humility that has made him endearing to so many.
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"It's a funny thing, papal celebrity," wrote Binelli. "As the archbishop of Buenos Aires, [Jorge Mario] Bergoglio had never been an especially gifted public speaker. But now that he's Pope Francis, his recognizable humanity comes off as positively revolutionary."
A public relations representative for Rolling Stone said in an email to CP that Francis is the first pope to ever make the cover of the magazine.
Francis has been on the front of a number of major magazines recently.
He appeared on the cover of Time magazine when the publication named him "Person of the Year" for 2013, and was on the front of Vanity Fair Italia when the magazine gave him "Man of the Year" honors. A cartoon image of the pope making a snow angel also made the cover of The New Yorker in December.
Perhaps the most controversial cover he landed on, however, was the December 2013 issue of the pro-LGBT publication The Advocate. The magazine also named Francis "Person of the Year," citing the pope's "stark change in rhetoric from his two predecessors" and his ability to influence the "remaining holdouts for LGBT acceptance in religion," among other things.
A Washington Post-ABC Poll from December showed that 69 percent of Americans have a "favorable" impression of Francis, as compared to just 14 percent who have an "unfavorable" impression of him.
