ROME, Italy — Pope Leo XIV marked his 70th birthday on Sunday by thanking God, his parents and all those who prayed for him.

Leo, the inaugural American pontiff, was greeted with large “Happy Birthday” banners in English, Italian, and Spanish, along with balloons and signs of congratulations, held by the crowd in St. Peter’s Square during his usual midday blessing. The presence of many Peruvian followers, including traditionally dressed dancers, highlighted the two decades Leo spent in Peru serving as both a missionary and a bishop.

“My dear friends, it looks like you know I have reached the age of 70 today,” Leo stated, his words met with cheers. “I am grateful to the Lord, my parents, and everyone who has kept me in their prayers.”

Later Sunday, Leo was spending his birthday afternoon presiding over an ecumenical prayer service in honor of 21st-century martyrs.

After his election last May at 69, the former Robert Prevost became the youngest pope since 1978 when Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II at 58.

Numerous attendees in the square were aware of Leo’s birthday and wished him well, acknowledging the immense responsibilities he now bears as the leader of the Catholic Church.

“Indeed, he requires a lot of support, as he must lead the pontificate through a particularly challenging time, due to geopolitical tensions and significant internal issues,” remarked Lorenzo Vecchio, part of a Catholic university organization in the crowd. “We are certainly pleased that he is such a young pope.”

Celso Fernandez, from Rome but originally from Leo’s old diocese in Chiclayo, Peru, reminisced about how the faithful in Chiclayo would celebrate their former bishop’s birthday, which was on the same day as a local religious festivity. Prevost would spend his birthday with them in honor of their feast day.

“Now we come to him for his birthday,” he said.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, for her part, issued a special greeting thanking Leo for his preaching, which she said was a source of inspiration. Leo’s teachings, she said in a statement, “provide reliable and solid guidance in extremely complex times, when certainties seem to waver and changes are as sudden as they are profound.”

Associated Press video journalist Paolo Santalucia in Vatican City contributed to this report.

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