Pope Francis Birthday: Photos Of His Holiness And Quotes Through His 80 Years

After more than three years at the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis is turning 80 Saturday. The octogenarian has had quite the run. His celebrity regularly draws the praise of followers.

Pope Francis has made waves with a variety of sometimes controversial positions and opinions. He has championed climate change mitigation measures and has been vocal in his pleas for a peaceful resolution to the deadly civil war in Syria. The pope has even suggested that contraception — or at least avoiding pregnancy — could be an acceptable way to fight the spread of Zika virus.

The pope was greeted by well-wishers who performed a pilgrimage to Italy to see the spiritual leader. He reportedly was happy and joked with them when they arrived at the Vatican.

Here are some memorable statements and photos of the Pope.

“God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If he gives us the gift of Christmas, it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it.”

“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge? We shouldn’t marginalize people for this. They must be integrated into society.”

“A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.”

“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.”

“Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right.”

“Since many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church and others are nonbelievers, from the bottom of my heart I give this silent blessing to each and every one of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you but knowing that each one of you is a child of God.”

“Among us, who is above must be in service of the others. This doesn’t mean we have to wash each other’s feet every day but we must help one another.”