Pope John Paul II yesterday celebrated his 80th birthday by presiding over a special Mass in St Peter's Square, attended by more than 7,000 priests and 100 cardinals and bishops.
On a sunny, hot day, the Pope not only recalled his 53 years as a priest but also the special emotions generated by his recent trip to the Holy Land.
"After more than 50 years of life as a priest, I still keenly feel the need to praise and thank God for his immense goodness," he said. "My thoughts at this moment turn to the site of the Last Supper, where during my recent visit to the Holy Land, I was able to celebrate Mass. It was in that place, in Jerusalem, that the concept of the ministry, yours and mine, was born in the heart and mind of Christ."
The huge turnout of priests was prompted by the fact that the Pope's birthday celebrations had been timed to coincide with the jubilee for priests. Addressing one of the largest gatherings of priests seen in St Peter's, the Pope said: "I embrace you warmly, priests of all the world. . . I extend my embrace to every single church, reaching out in particular to those of you priests who are sick, alone or in difficulty. My thoughts also turn to those priests who, for diverse reasons, no longer exercise their holy ministry."
The nature of priesthood was at the centre of the Pope's address. Recalling those priests who gave their lives for the church in the last century, the Pope added: "It was St Peter who told us what our duties are - to graze the flock that God has entrusted to us, not forcefully but with good spirit and not as overlords and masters but rather offering a special testimony of faith, which can if necessary lead to the spilling of our blood, as happened to many of our fellow priests in the course of the last century."
Looking frail at the beginning of the two-hour service, the Pope seemed relaxed and well at the end of the Mass, exchanging smiles and greetings with many of those who offered him a variety of birthday presents. As he was driven down the front steps of the Basilica of St Peter's in his white Popemobile, he smiled and waved to pilgrims, many of whom were singing "Happy Birthday" in a variety of languages.
Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the Colombian prelate who leads the Vatican's congregation for clergy, offered thanks "for those white hairs, for the suffering that has made you even dearer in our eyes, for your physically tired steps, so spiritually intrepid."
The Pope's 80th birthday yesterday was also marked by a special lunch and by a London Symphony Orchestra performance of Haydn's oratorio, The Creation, in the Vatican.
AFP adds: The Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II congratulated the Pope, calling for reconciliation between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.