Pope Francis: Highlights of First Year as Pontiff

It's now been a year since Jose Mario Begoglio, aka Francis I, was elected as the 266<sup>th pope to head the Catholic Church.

The first South American to be elected pontiff, he has made a huge global impact in his first year in office. Here are the highlights of the first 12 months of his papacy.

Francis lives his life under a 'vow of poverty', and continued to do so upon being elected pontiff. He called for the Church to become more fair and frugal and less pompous, as he shunned more regal apartments to live in a simple guest house with other tenants.

His predecessor, Benedict XVI, was dogged by child sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church. Francis took action by saying the Vatican would "act decisively" to end sexual abuse of children by priests, and set up an advisory board of cardinals from around the world to help him govern the Catholic Church. But more work needs to be done if the deep wounds caused to the Church by the scandal are to heal.

The new Pope didn't shy away from controversial social topics, saying the Church must shake off its "obsession" with teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality.

Instead he has focused his efforts on financial reform, saying the current global economic system could no longer be based on a "god called money". He launched the first steps to reform the Vatican Bank after setting up a special commission to get to grips with the institution that has been a source of embarrassment for the Church for decades.

Such remarks have seen the Pope win the admiration of both Catholics and non-Catholics around the world, with his celebrity status seeing him grace the covers of magazines Time and Rolling Stone. But Francis recently asked not to be seen as a superman figure, saying he was just, "a normal person".