Seventy one at the Vatican

Pope Leo XIV marked his 71st birthday on Monday, September 14, 2026. Messages and good wishes arrived at the Vatican from Churches and well-wishers around the world.

Italy's bishops write in

The Italian Bishops' Conference thanked him for his service and recalled his insistence that the Gospel comes first and that faith is a personal encounter with Christ.

No peace without forgiveness

Citing his Sunday Angelus, the bishops drew the line he keeps drawing: conflict takes hold where reconciliation is missing. He has also pressed for welcoming parishes and missionary communities.

Four hundred mentions of peace

Since his election he has called for an "unarmed and disarming" peace. In his first year he returned to peace and reconciliation more than 400 times, alongside unity, dialogue, hope, and human dignity.

“unarmed and disarming”

A pope of firsts abroad

His first journey took him to Türkiye and Lebanon, where he marked 1,700 years since Nicaea. He became the first pope to visit Monaco and Algeria, and the first to address the Spanish Parliament.

Closing doors, opening arguments

On January 6 he shut the Holy Door to end the Jubilee begun by Francis. His encyclical Magnifica humanitas argued that AI must serve human dignity, and Dilexi te carried forward Francis's call to love the poor.