Yet again, the point is lost because of a knee-jerk reaction to anything that even slightly sounds negative towards the Roman Catholic Church. Ponder this, NKP_Vet, is the same mindset controlling the people that award this kind of thing than those who did in the past? Could it possibly be a far different one than that of Churchill, Reagan, Eisenhower, Kissinger, et al??? Are you unaware of the huge left-ward shift of the media in the last twenty to sixty years?
Like I said, they ONLY chose Francis because of his seeming (and I am withholding judgment on his political leanings) anti-Capitalism, pro-Socialism/Communism statements. Can you get your mind around that a little better?
Go back to 1927 and look at the list of winners of the Man of the Year. All in the hell it is is a publicity contest. Who makes the most noise that the media can report about wins the prize. Time Magazine was on the verge of giving it to Mel Gibson (who they hate with a burning passion) and Michael Moore as co-winners in 2003. But the two had to stand on stage together and Gibson refused to get on a stage with the leftist clown Moore. They ended up giving it to George Bush, who the media also despised.