Virginia: Pope Francis has been named Person of the Year by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), an animal welfare charity.

According to PETA, Pope Francis was chosen for asking the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics and other citizens of the world to respect the environment and treat animals with kindness.

He is the first pope to have taken the name of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, who was always said that he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of brother or sister.

Pope Francis is the first head of the Catholic Church to be named PETA’s Person of the Year.

PETA is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. It was founded in March 1980 as a non-profit corporation by Newkirk and fellow animal rights activist Alex Pacheco. It has 300 employees and claims to be the world’s largest animal rights group with 3 million members and supporters worldwide.

Its slogan is “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.” It now focuses on four core issues—opposition to factory farming, fur farming, animal testing, and animals in entertainment. It also campaigns against eating meat, fishing, killing of animals regarded as pests, the keeping of chained backyard dogs, cock fighting, dog fighting, and bullfighting.

In a statement, Newkirk said that during 2015 Pope Francis “spread the message of kindness to all, regardless of their religion or species.”

“With more than a billion Catholics worldwide, Pope Francis’ animal-friendly teachings have a massive audience,” she added.In his encyclical, ‘Laudato Si’, which was released in early 2015, Pope Francis wrote: “Every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity’… We are not God. We must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the Earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures”.

Pope Francis said in the encyclical: “We are not God. … [W]e must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the Earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”

The pontiff is also known for his focus on environmental stewardship – a concern that PETA shares through its vegan advocacy as, according to the United Nations, a global shift towards vegan eating is necessary in slowing the most dangerous effects of climate change, including the extinction of wildlife.

Previous persons of the year include Morrissey, Brian May, Tony Benn, and Ricky Gervais.

Pope Francis has received numerous awards and honors since March 13, 2013 when he was elected to head the Catholic Church.

On October 6, the Caring Institute announced Pope Francis as this year’s International Caring Award Recipient for preaching the Gospel of Caring. The award is given to person who exemplyfy selfless service to those in need.

Pope Francis has expressed a new view of Catholic gay rights and denounced extremists for perverting religion to justify their use of violence. He has called for reconciliation of the Korean peninsula, peace in war-torn Sri Lanka, and an end to conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He has apologized for Catholic complicity in the mistreatment of Native Americans and denounced the persecution of Christians in the Middle East as “a form of genocide that must end.” He has also strived to bring all branches of Christianity together and urged the church to be a “poor church, for the poor.”

In December 2013, the Time magazine named him the Person of the Year for making an impact on the Catholic Church with the same year of his election.

He was among the top contenders for Nobel Peace Prized in the past two years.