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Pope Francis is celebrating his first year in office.
The Argentinean-born pontiff is currently on a week-long spiritual retreat with cardinals
and bishops in the Alban Hills near Rome. Italian opinion polls give Pope Francis the
highest popularity rating of any recent pontiff. However, the BBC's David Willey in Rome says
that Francis's papacy so far has shown a change of style rather than of substance.
Pope Francis is the first Latin American - and the first Jesuit - to lead the Roman Catholic
Church. Since taking office, pilgrims have been arriving
in Rome in unprecedented numbers. He is also riding high on social media, with
11 million following him in nine languages on Twitter.
Our correspondent says Francis's approval rating has remained high despite a recent
UN report accusing the Catholic Church of systematically covering up for tens of thousands
of child-abusing priests reported to the Vatican. The Pope himself has denounced any cult of
personality. He recently told Corriere della Sera: "Portraying
the pope as a kind of superman, a type of star, it seems offensive."
Francis, 77, has appointed new advisers to help him run the Church and is planning major
reforms of Vatican finances and of the scandal-hit Vatican bank.