Happy Birthday Pope Leo!

Image: Vatican Media

Source: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his 71st birthday today, September 14, 2026, following a year marked by appeals for peace, Apostolic Journeys, and concern for human dignity.

Messages and expressions of good wishes have arrived at the Vatican from around the world.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella sent greetings "on behalf of the Italian people, together with his sincere wishes for spiritual and personal well-being,"

In his message, the President highlighted the Pope's "urgent appeals for a ceasefire and the resumption of the path of dialogue, for the common good of peoples," in a time when "fears have grown that the world is heading down a dangerous slope, driven by a widespread logic of domination and increasingly marked by lacerating conflicts." "It is above all the many thousands of civilian victims who pay every day an intolerable price of blood and destruction," Mattarella wrote, adding that "in the face of such anxieties, men and women of goodwill feel the urgent need for peace and justice" and that "from every continent, people look with great hope" to the Pope's words.

Quoting St Augustine, who affirmed that "we are the times," the Italian President stressed that it is the duty of all, "and in particular of those who hold public office," to work "so that circumstances may improve, reopening horizons of dialogue, justice, and concrete protection of the dignity of every person," and assures Leo XIV of the collaboration of the Italian State in his "high apostolic mission."

The presidency of the Italian Bishops' Conference sent a message conveying the greetings of Italy's local Churches and thanking the Pope for his service.

The Italian Bishops recalled Pope Leo's emphasis on the Gospel as the fundamental priority of ecclesial life and on faith as a personal encounter with Christ. They also highlighted his call for missionary communities, welcoming parishes and effective structures of participation.

Referring to the Pope's Angelus address on Sunday, the Italian Bishops' Conference underlined the connection between forgiveness and peace, noting that conflicts arise when reconciliation is absent.

Peace has been one of the most frequently recurring themes of Pope Leo's words over the past year.

Since speaking after his election of an "unarmed and disarming" peace, he has repeatedly returned to peace and reconciliation during his Apostolic Journeys, encounters, and public addresses.

During the first year of his pontificate, the Pope referred to these two themes more than 400 times, while also frequently speaking about unity, dialogue, hope, and human dignity.

His first Apostolic Journey took him to Türkiye and Lebanon. At Nicaea, marking the 1,700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council, he stressed Christian unity, while in Lebanon he focused on dialogue and peace.

Pope Leo later became the first pontiff to visit Monaco and Algeria. In Annaba, ancient Hippo, he visited places associated with Saint Augustine. During his journey to Spain, he became the first Pope to address the Spanish Parliament.

On January 6, he closed the Jubilee Year 2025, begun by Pope Francis, by shutting the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica.

His first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, addressed artificial intelligence and insisted that technology must remain at the service of human dignity, freedom, responsibility, and the common good.

He also completed Dilexi te, the Apostolic Exhortation begun by Pope Francis on love for the poor, revisiting the theme during his July visit to Lampedusa and meeting with migrants.

Born in Chicago on September 14, 1955, Pope Leo XIV enters his 72nd year with the central themes of his pontificate clearly defined: peace, unity, and the defence of human dignity.