Pope Francis Quotes: 10 Inspiring Statements Celebrating His 80th Birthday

Sunday, Dec. 17, marks the 80th birthday of Pope Francis. The 226th pope of the Catholic Church will commemorate the occasion by performing his usual duties which include holding mass and meeting various heads of states and members of the Roman Curia.

According to a report by Catholic news service website Crux, this year, the pope would receive mails wishing him from all over the world via special email addresses set up for the occasion. The various email addresses were created to help people send messages in different languages.

The report stated, citing a message from the Vatican on Wednesday, the pope will start the day by holding mass, but instead of the usual birthday celebrations that takes place in the Saint Martha Guesthouse at 7.a.m. CET (1 a.m. EST), he will perform a mass inside the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace where the resident cardinals of Rome will also be present.

On his 80th birthday, here are some inspirational quotes by Pope Francis:

Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities.
Life is a journey. When we stop, things don't go right.
Even today we raise our hand against our brother. ... We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves as if it were normal we continue to sow destruction, pain, death. Violence and war lead only to death.
Even today we raise our hand against our brother. ... We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves as if it were normal we continue to sow destruction, pain, death. Violence and war lead only to death.
This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.
Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport.
A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: 'Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?' We must always consider the person.
Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is good... Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.
Grace is not part of consciousness; it is the amount of light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason.
Every man, every woman who has to take up the service of government, must ask themselves two questions: 'Do I love my people in order to serve them better? Am I humble and do I listen to everybody, to diverse opinions in order to choose the best path?' If you don't ask those questions, your governance will not be good.