Pope contemplates aging on 80th birthday

Pope Francis blows a candle on a cake given to him by faithful during his weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. Pope Francis is marking his 80th birthday on Saturday with a morning Mass with his cardinals and an otherwise “normal” day of back-to-back meetings and audiences. (Pool Photo by L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO via AP)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is celebrating an active if low-key 80th birthday, sharing breakfast with eight homeless people before celebrating Mass with cardinals.

The Vatican said that the pope chatted early Saturday with each of the homeless guests— four Italians, two Romanians, a Moldovan and a Peruvian — and shared with them Argentinian cakes before heading to Mass.

Speaking to the cardinals, he contemplated the aging process, telling them, “For some days now, I have had in mind a word that seems ugly: Old age, a thought that frightens.” But then he recalled his words during his first papal greeting in 2013, when he said: “Old age is the thirst for knowledge.”

To the cardinals he added: “I hope it will be the same for me.”