Pope Francis Turns 80 on Saturday: Here’s How to Send Him A Birthday Greeting

By Derek Welch --
14 Dec 2016 --

Ahead of the 80th birthday of Pope Francis, email addresses in eight languages are allowing the faithful to send their wishes.

The Vatican has created eight new email addresses for people who want to send wishes to the Pope on his 80th birthday. The eight email addresses will allow people who speak Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Polish and Latin as well, as it is the Church’s official language, to communicate with the Pope on his birthday. The Pope has announced that he will be spending is birthday just as any other working day.

Pope Francis Turns 80 on Saturday: Here’s How to Send Him A Birthday Greeting[/tweetthis]

The Argentine Pope will be turning 80 this Saturday. Known as the people’s Pope, the Vatican has decided to give more people an opportunity to send their wishes to their beloved spiritual leader. The Pope, however, will not be involved in any kind of fancy celebrations. Instead, the Pope will simply offer a Mass in the morning, and receive the president of Malta who will be in a visit. The Pontiff will be spending the rest of the day doing his usual work routine.

This is not the first time that the Pope has decided to spend his birthday in such an unusual manner. Just a few months after his election, i.e., for his 77th birthday, the Pope had invited four homeless people for breakfast. The following year, he marked his birthday by distributing sleeping bags to Rome’s restitutes and homeless. The 79th birthday was marked by a cake that was made from organic and ethically sourced materials, sending a simple yet bold message to the faithful.

Pope Francis was born to Italian immigrants as Jorge Bergoglio in Argentina on the 17th of December 1936. He served as a Jesuit priest before rising up in the Church’s hierarchy. Although he felt a deep calling to priesthood, his mother was completely against his decision, and accepted it only a little before his ordination. In 1973, he was chosen as the Provincial for the Jesuits. He was named the titular Bishop of Auca and the auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. Pope John Paul II elevated him to the position of Cardinal in 2001. In 2005, he became the president of the Bishops Conference of Argentina, a position that he held till 2011.

He received the second highest number of votes in the elections following the demise of Pope John Paul II. The victor in that election, Joseph Ratzinger, resigned from his post in 2013, instigating a new election to happen. Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope this time.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis took time to acknowledge the birthday greetings he’s received thus far, saying “I thank you all for your well-wishes for my upcoming birthday. Many thanks!” He also joked with the crowd saying, “Those, who offer birthday congratulations ahead of time, are jinxes!”

You can send in your own wishes to the Pope at the following email addresses:

Papafranciscus80@vatican.va (Latin) PapaFrancesco80@vatican.va (Italian) PapaFrancisco80@vatican.va (Spanish / Portuguese) PopeFrancis80@vatican.va (English) PapeFrancois80@vatican.va (French) PapstFranziskus80@vatican.va (German) PapiezFranciszek80@vatican.va (Polish)