--- description: Pope Francis is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote about the religious leader. title: Pope Francis by Carinal Blase J. Cupich: TIME 100 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd3c0664b2ac8f34/6988c3a997cdff445a6b0574/time-100-2017-pope-francis3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 20, 2017 # Pope Francis by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich  Pope Francis waves prior to delivering his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world) message, from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Sunday, April 16, 2017\. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Pope Francis waves prior to delivering his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world) message, from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Sunday, April 16, 2017\. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Photograph by Gregorio Borgia—AP Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio? Francis told us in his first interview after being elected Pope: “I am a sinner,” he said. “This the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech.” Before hearing confessions in St. Peter’s Basilica, he kneels in confession himself—because one cannot accompany a suffering world without acknowledging one’s own faults. The same goes for the church Francis leads. Before being elected Pope, Francis gave a speech to his fellow Cardinals warning against becoming a “self-referential” church, rather than one that goes out of itself to the margins of society to be with those who suffer. That is where God is working in the world and where he calls us to be. This has rung especially true this year, as Francis has spoken out on the need to welcome refugees amid a global crisis. As Pope Paul VI once said: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers.” Francis loves that phrase, and it is precisely because of his powerful witness, in both word and deed, that we listen so willingly to him. _Cupich is the Archbishop of Chicago_ Pope Francis by Carinal Blase J. Cupich: TIME 100 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736336/pope-francis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736336/pope-francis/"},"headline":"Pope Francis","datePublished":"2017-04-20T00:44:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:59.575Z","description":"Pope Francis is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote about the religious leader.","url":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736336/pope-francis/","keywords":["TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd3c0664b2ac8f34/6988c3a997cdff445a6b0574/time-100-2017-pope-francis3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd3c0664b2ac8f34/6988c3a997cdff445a6b0574/time-100-2017-pope-francis3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736336/pope-francis/","name":"Pope Francis"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See All the TIME 100 Honorees in One Minute","description":"The TIME 100 honorees include actors, musicians, politicians, business leaders, activists and scientists, and together make a portrait of influence in 2017.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zZCdrcRA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-20T10:30:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zZCdrcRA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736336/pope-francis/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736336/pope-francis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```