VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV marked his 70th birthday Sunday by thanking God, his parents and the many faithful who prayed for him as thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square to celebrate the milestone.
Leo, the first American pope, was greeted with large banners reading “Happy Birthday” in English, Italian and Spanish, along with balloons and handwritten signs from pilgrims. Groups of Peruvians in traditional dress joined the festivities, reflecting the two decades the pontiff spent as a missionary and bishop in the country.
“My dears, it seems you know today I have turned 70,” Leo said to cheers during his traditional noon blessing. “I thank the Lord, my parents and all those who remembered me in their prayers.”
Later in the day, Leo presided over an ecumenical prayer service honoring 21st-century martyrs.
When he was elected last May at age 69, the former Robert Prevost became the youngest pope since 1978, when Karol Wojtyla was chosen as Pope John Paul II at 58. Many of those who filled the square Sunday said they wanted to show support for the pope as he leads the Catholic Church during turbulent times.
“Well, he definitely needs a lot of support, because he has to carry on a pontificate during a particularly difficult period, both for geopolitical issues and certainly for internal matters,” said Lorenzo Vecchio, a member of a Catholic university group. “We are certainly happy that he is a very young pope.”
Celso Fernandez, a Rome resident originally from Leo’s former diocese in Chiclayo, Peru, recalled how local faithful celebrated his birthday alongside a traditional feast day when he was their bishop.
“Now we come to him for his birthday,” Fernandez said.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni also offered her congratulations, praising Leo’s leadership in a statement that described his teaching as “reliable and solid guidance in extremely complex times, when certainties seem to waver and changes are as sudden as they are profound.”
