News Briefs

Pope Francis’ 85th birthday party included lots of kids and cake

December 19, 2021 Catholic News Agency 2
Pope Francis had a belated birthday celebration on Dec. 19 with children helped by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary / Veronica Giacometti/CNA

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2021 / 07:42 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Sunday joined a belated celebration of his 85th birthday, thrown by the children and families helped by the Vatican’s charitable pediatric clinic.

During the Dec. 19 party, Pope Francis was entertained by songs and skits from the kids, and everyone was treated to a piece of a giant birthday cake.

Pope Francis turned 85 years old on Dec. 17.

Pope Francis had a belated birthday celebration on Dec. 19 with children helped by the Vatican's Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Vatican Media
Pope Francis had a belated birthday celebration on Dec. 19 with children helped by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Vatican Media

For almost 100 years, the Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary has been providing free medical care to children from all over the world.

The annual event with Pope Francis was skipped last year due to the pandemic, but the 2021 party included a new attraction: A Christmas Village complete with Santa Claus and elves.

The Christmas Village was set up inside and outside the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. Children were able to have their photo taken with Santa Claus and each got a Christmas box filled with pizza, muffins, and chocolate.

Part of the Christmas Village at Pope Francis' belated birthday celebration on Dec. 19 with children helped by the Vatican's Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Veronica Giacometti/CNA
Part of the Christmas Village at Pope Francis’ belated birthday celebration on Dec. 19 with children helped by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Veronica Giacometti/CNA

During the visit, Pope Francis greeted the kids and spoke to them about what it means to love other people.

“Love for others means that we must look at and listen to the people’s needs,” he said. “There are always people who need us, but if we don’t look them in the face we will never understand…”

“If I go down the street and I see that someone is cold and hungry, even if he is bad, I help him,” the pope said. “Always help each other. Today we are all here because we are friends.”

Pope Francis had a belated birthday celebration on Dec. 19 with children helped by the Vatican's Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Veronica Giacometti/CNA
Pope Francis had a belated birthday celebration on Dec. 19 with children helped by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Veronica Giacometti/CNA

Pope Francis was surrounded by red balloons and the Happy Birthday song was playing in Spanish when he was presented with a large box containing a birthday cake.

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Assisi is illuminated with Giotto’s frescoes this Christmas season

December 17, 2021 Catholic News Agency 1
Giotto’s Nativity fresco projected on the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. / Shutterstock/CNA

Assisi, Italy, Dec 17, 2021 / 15:17 pm (CNA).

Saint Francis’ hometown of Assisi has once again been illuminated with Giotto’s frescoes this Christmas season.

The frescoes from the interior of the Basilica of St. Francis are being projected each night onto the town’s churches from Dec. 8 to Jan. 10.

Giotto (1267-1337) is the medieval artist credited with painting frescoes of the life of St. Francis as well as biblical scenes in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

Painted on the walls and ceilings, these images inside the basilica can be difficult to see. The light display allows passersby and virtual viewers to see Giotto’s work in greater detail.

Giotto's frescoes adorn the interior of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. Shutterstock
Giotto’s frescoes adorn the interior of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. Shutterstock

Giotto’s Nativity is projected on the facade of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, while the Annunciation is illuminated on the Cathedral of San Rufino. Both scenes also have life-size figurines displayed in front of the churches.

An adaptation of Giotto’s Visitation has been projected on the facade of the Basilica of Saint Clare and Assisi’s Abbey of Saint Peter features an illumination of the “Adoration of the Magi.”

The Abbey of Saint Peter in Assisi features an illumination of Giotto's “Adoration of the Magi.”. Shutterstock
The Abbey of Saint Peter in Assisi features an illumination of Giotto’s “Adoration of the Magi.”. Shutterstock

Assisi first debuted its Giotto Christmas light display in December 2020, but Italy’s coronavirus restrictions last year prevented people from outside the region of Umbria from visiting Assisi during the Christmas season.

The Franciscan friars of Assisi have created a website that allows people unable to see the lights in person to view the Christmas display virtually with videos and spiritual reflections.

A light projection of the Annuciation by Giotto on the Cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi. Screenshot from the website
A light projection of the Annuciation by Giotto on the Cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi. Screenshot from the website

Assisi has a special connection with the tradition of nativity scenes. St. Francis of Assisi created the first nativity scene in 1223 in the nearby town of Greccio.

Pope Francis traveled to Assisi in 2019 to sign an apostolic letter, “Admirabile signum,” calling for nativity scenes to be more widely displayed in family homes and public places throughout the world.

The letter also details the story behind St. Francis’ first nativity scene, or crèche. The saint asked a friend 15 days before Christmas to help him prepare “to bring to life” the memory of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem.

Pope Francis visits the place of the first nativity scene in Greccio, Italy on Jan. 4, 2015. . L'Osservatore Romano.
Pope Francis visits the place of the first nativity scene in Greccio, Italy on Jan. 4, 2015. . L’Osservatore Romano.

“When St. Francis arrived, he found a manger full of hay, an ox and a donkey. All those present experienced a new and indescribable joy in the presence of the Christmas scene. The priest then solemnly celebrated the Eucharist over the manger, showing the bond between the Incarnation of the Son of God and the Eucharist. At Greccio there were no statues; the nativity scene was enacted and experienced by all who were present,” the letter explains.

Thomas of Celano, the first biographer of St. Francis, wrote that someone present at the Mass had a vision of the baby Jesus himself lying in the manger.

“In a particular way, from the time of its Franciscan origins, the nativity scene has invited us to ‘feel’ and ‘touch’ the poverty that God’s Son took upon himself in the Incarnation. Implicitly, it summons us to follow him along the path of humility, poverty and self-denial that leads from the manger of Bethlehem to the cross,” Pope Francis wrote.

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