--- title: See Pope Francis and Every Pope Ever on the Cover of TIME description: Nearly a century of papal history, as told by TIME canonical: https://time.com/4031131/pope-time-covers/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-24T13:00:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:42.758Z article:section: History og:title: See Pope Francis and Every Pope Ever on the Cover of TIME og:description: Francis is the latest in a long tradition og:url: https://time.com/4031131/pope-time-covers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb416cc6ae366df5/6988633b524fc002dbdf4771/1101131223_600.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 600 og:image:height: 338 og:image:alt: Dec. 23, 2013 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Pope Francis and Every Pope Ever on the Cover of TIME twitter:description: Francis is the latest in a long tradition twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb416cc6ae366df5/6988633b524fc002dbdf4771/1101131223_600.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Every Pope Who's Ever Been on the Cover of TIME > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Sep 24, 2015 1:00 PM UTC  Pope Francis, Person of the Year, on the Dec. 23, 2013, cover of TIME Pope Francis, Person of the Year, on the Dec. 23, 2013, cover of TIME Cover Credit: PORTRAIT BY JASON SEILER FOR TIME  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Sep 24, 2015 1:00 PM UTC Pope Francis’ appearance on the new cover of TIME marks his third turn inside the red border (or fourth if you count an issue that only appeared in Europe and Asia). The appearance puts him in good company: every single Pope who has held that title since TIME was first published in 1923 has been the subject of multiple cover stories. Even if you don’t count the Vatican stories that weren’t about a particular pope (like [this one](http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19780821,00.html) and [this one](http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20100607,00.html)), there have been nearly three dozen papal portraits on the cover of TIME. Here’s a look back at nearly a century of papal history. **_Read this week’s cover story, here on Time.com:_** [Pope Francis Meets America](http://time.com/4047860/pope-francis-meets-america/)  Pope Pius XI on the June 16, 1924, cover of TIME TIME  Pope Pius XI on the Dec. 29, 1930, cover of TIME TIME  Pope Pius XI on the Apr. 3, 1933, cover of TIME TIME  Pope Pius XII on the Aug. 16, 1943, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ANDREI HUDIAKOFF  Pope Pius XII on the Dec. 14, 1953, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN  Pope John XXIII on the Nov. 10, 1958, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN  Pope John XXIII on the Oct. 5, 1962, cover of TIME Cover Credit: PIETRO ANNIGONI  Pope John XXIII, Person of the Year, on the Jan. 4, 1963, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Pope John XXIII on the June 7, 1963, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS  Pope Paul VI on the June 28, 1963, cover of TIME Cover Credit: DAVID LEES  Pope Paul VI on the Sep. 24, 1965, cover of TIME TIME  Pope Paul VI on the Nov. 22, 1968, cover of TIME Cover Credit: LOUIS GLANZMAN  Pope John Paul I on the Sep. 4, 1978, cover of TIME Cover Credit: DAVID LEES  Pope John Paul I on the Oct. 9, 1978, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ENRICO FERORELLI  Pope John Paul II on the Oct. 30, 1978, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ARTURO MARI  Pope John Paul II on the June 18, 1979, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GIANFRANCO GORGONI  Pope John Paul II on the Oct. 15, 1979, cover of TIME Cover Credit: NEIL LEIFER  Pope John Paul II on the May 25, 1981, cover of TIME Cover Credit: FOTAM  Pope John Paul II on the June 7, 1982, cover of TIME Cover Credit: MARTIN CLEAVER, FRANCOIS LOCHON-GAMMA, DAVID HUME KENNERLY  Pope John Paul II on the Mar. 14, 1983, cover of TIME Cover Credit: FRANK FOURNIER  Pope John Paul II on the June 27, 1983, cover of TIME Cover Credit: INTERPRESS/JURGENS  Pope John Paul II on the Jan. 9, 1984, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ARTURO MARI  Pope John Paul II on the Feb. 4, 1985, cover of TIME Cover Credit: MARIO DONIZETTI  Pope John Paul II on the Feb. 24, 1992, cover of TIME Cover Credit: DIRCK HALSTEAD / GIANNI GIANSANTI-SYGMA (POPE JOHN PAUL II)  Pope John Paul II, Person of the Year, on the Dec. 26, 1994, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ROBERT AMMIRATI  Pope John Paul II on the Jan. 26, 1998, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GERARD RANCINAN  Pope John Paul II on the Apr. 3, 2000, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ARTURO MARI  Pope John Paul II on the Apr. 11, 2005, cover of TIME TIME  Pope Benedict XVI on the May 2, 2005, cover of TIME TIME  Pope Benedict XVI on the Nov. 27, 2006, cover of TIME Cover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY MAX ROSSI/REUTERS  Pope Benedict XVI on the Apr. 14, 2008, cover of TIME Cover Credit: JOHN RITTER  Pope Benedict XVI on the Feb. 25, 2013, cover of TIME Cover Credit: EVANDRO INETTI-ZUMA PRESS  Pope Francis on the Mar. 25, 2013, cover of TIME Cover Credit: STEFANO DAL POZZOLO / CONTRASTO / REDUX  Pope Francis, Person of the Year, on the Dec. 23, 2013, cover of TIME Cover Credit: PORTRAIT BY JASON SEILER FOR TIME  The Oct. 5, 2015, cover of TIME Photograph by Mandel Ngan–AFP/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4031131/pope-time-covers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4031131/pope-time-covers/"},"headline":"See Every Pope Who's Ever Been on the Cover of TIME","datePublished":"2015-09-24T13:00:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:42.758Z","description":"Francis is the latest in a long tradition","url":"https://time.com/4031131/pope-time-covers/","keywords":["faith","Media","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb416cc6ae366df5/6988633b524fc002dbdf4771/1101131223_600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at 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