Business as usual at the Vatican, as Pope Francis turns 77
Vatican City - Thousands of goodwill messages poured in to the Vatican on Tuesday for Pope Francis, who has turned 77.
But no special celebrations were planned for the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, with Tuesday expected to be a normal working day for him.
The pope celebrated his daily mass in the Santa Marta chapel at 7 am (0600 GMT), and was preparing his speech for his weekly audience, scheduled for Wednesday.
Francis was given a surprise party at the weekend, when he met a group of children at a charity office inside the Vatican.
They each sported a letter of the alphabet on their shirt, and lined up to spell out the message Happy Birthday, Pope Francis. There was also a cake, with candles.//DPA
