Overview

• Posting on X, he thanked God, his parents and all who prayed for him, and highlighted the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
• Crowds in St. Peter’s Square raised multilingual birthday banners and balloons during the noon Angelus, with Peruvian faithful prominently represented.
• Formal messages flowed from the Vatican and beyond, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin, national bishops’ conferences, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, UN Secretary‑General António Guterres, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
• He presided over an evening ecumenical commemoration of 21st‑century martyrs at St. Paul Outside the Walls, shared a simple cake with cardinals and faith leaders, and spoke of answering, “not my will, but yours, Lord,” while urging Jubilee‑Year zeal.
• In his Chicago‑area hometown of Dolton, residents held music‑filled festivities outside his boyhood home, which the village purchased in July, and local media reported a Portillo’s cake delivered by the U.S. ambassador and a concert at the Vatican on the eve of his birthday.