ROME — ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV marked his seventieth birthday on Sunday by thanking God, his mother and father and all those that prayed for him.
Leo noticed big “Blissful birthday” banners, balloons and congratulatory indicators held up by the trustworthy gathered in St. Peter’s Sq. for his conventional midday blessing.
“My dears, it appears you already know at present I’ve turned 70,” Leo mentioned to cheers. “I thank the Lord, my mother and father and all those that remembered me of their prayers.”
Later Sunday, Leo was spending his birthday afternoon presiding over an ecumenical prayer service in honor of twenty first century martyrs.
When he was elected final Could at age 69, the previous Robert Prevost was the youngest pope since 1978, when Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope John Paul II at age 58.
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