DHAKA: 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 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.

BDST: 1920 HRS, MAR 13, 2014