Pope celebrates his 77th birthday by going for breakfast with four homeless people often seen near the Vatican

• Pope started birthday with mass before breakfast with homeless people
• Rumours circulating Francis sneaks out of the Vatican to distribute charity
• His football team set to offer him league trophy they won earlier this week

By Hannah Roberts

PUBLISHED: 11:06 EST, 17 December 2013 | UPDATED: 11:16 EST, 17 December 2013


Since becoming leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, his trademark humble style has won him plaudits.

And even on his birthday Pope Francis has refused to make a splash - choosing instead to celebrate the day with four homeless people.

The pontiff kicked off his 77th birthday, with mass at the humble priests’ guesthouse where he has made his home, followed by breakfast with four homeless people often seen near the Vatican.



Pope Francis (pictured meeting children and volunteers of the Santa Marta Vatican Institute on Saturday) has celebrated his 77th birthday by going for breakfast with four homeless people often seen near the Vatican



The four got a chance to wish him many happy returns when they were introduced in person to Francis by Konrad Krajewski, his alms distributor.

Rumours that Francis sneaks out of the Vatican, disguised as a priest, to distribute charity to those living on the streets, have circulated Rome in recent weeks, after Monsignor Krajewski dropped a strong hint during a TV interview.

Francis has cultivated an image of a poor church since his inauguration in April. He has shunned the traditional robes, jewellery and even the luxurious papal apartment for a more spartan lifestyle.

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But the Argentinian Pope is set to receive at least one priceless gift. His favourite football team Buenos Aires side San Lorenzo de Almagro are set to offer him the league title trophy they won earlier this week.

When he heard of the result, Francis exclaimed, ‘What joy!’, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported.

The club's most famous fan is scheduled to receive a six-person delegation of players and managers from the club who boarded a private jet to Rome to visit him, after winning a title for the first time in six years.



Rumours that Francis sneaks out of the Vatican, disguised as a priest, to distribute charity to those living on the streets, have circulated Rome in recent weeks



San Lorenzo manager Bernardo Romeo told TV channel CN23 that Francis asked the club to win the championship.

'We’re going to offer him the trophy as he is the world’s most powerful man, we’re proud and excited for the trip.'

The Vatican TV Centre released a short film entitled ‘Happy Birthday Papa Francesco’, to mark his first birthday in office.

The 1minute 45 second video shows the most significant images of the first nine months of his pontificate from the white smoke emerging from the Sistine Chapel to his historic mass on Copacabana beach in Rio di Janeiro.

GAY RIGHTS MAGAZINE NAMES POPE FRANCIS ITS 'PERSON OF THE YEAR'


The oldest gay rights magazine in the United States has named Pope Francis its 'Person of the Year' as the pontiff marked his 77th birthday today.


The Advocate magazine said it gave Francis the honour because, although he is still against homosexual marriage, his pontificate so far had shown 'a stark change in (anti-gay) rhetoric from his two predecessors'.


It hailed as a landmark his famous response last July to a reporter who asked about gay people in the Church: 'If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?'


The Advocate noted that the Catholic gay organisation 'Equally Blessed' called the phrase 'some of the most encouraging words a pontiff has ever spoken about gay and lesbian people'.


The Vatican has stressed the pope's words did not change Church teachings that homosexual tendencies are not sinful but homosexual acts are.


Still, the gay community and many heterosexuals in the Church have welcomed what they see as a shift in emphasis and a call for the Church to be more compassionate and less condemning.

The Advocate said no-one should 'underestimate any pope's capacity for persuading hearts and minds in opening to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) people'.

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