Pope, at 80, looks to ‘joyous’ old age

ROME: Pope Francis voiced hope for a ‘ fruitful and joyous’ old age on Saturday, as he kicked off his 80th birthday by sharing breakfast with a group of homeless people.

“Old age sounds ugly, and causes fear. But old age is the seat of wisdom,” he told dozens of cardinals at the mass in a papal chapel in Rome.

“Old age is quiet and religious, but also fruitful. Pray that mine will be that way, quiet and religious, fruitful and also joyous.”

The pope began his birthday before mass by inviting eight homeless people to a breakfast which included pastries from his native Argentina.

He also had pastries sent to soup kitchens across Rome, and sent small gifts to residents in the city’s emergency shelters, the Vatican said.

More than 50,000 messages of congratulations streamed in from around the world, including at email addresses in eight languages specially set up by the Vatican.

US President Barack Obama said Pope Francis had “in both word and deed... inspired people around the world with his message of compassion, hope, and peace”.

The pontiff also received a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two discussed the matter of protecting Christians in caught in regional conflicts.

“Italy is grateful to you for your constant closeness,” said Italian President Sergio Mattarella, while the country’s new prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, expressed “gratitude to the Holy Father for the inspirational force of his message and example”.

Among the gifts streaming in were drawings by children, Jesuit theologian Antonio Spadaro, who is close to the pontiff, tweeted.

Spadaro released photographs of drawings showing a smiling pope with the world on his head, or surrounded by children and party balloons.

Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI called and sent along “three small presents that the pope received as three significant and personal signs for both of them,” the Holy See said without elaborating. But like almost every other day of his papacy, Saturday was mainly spent as a working day for the holiday-phobic Francis. — AFP