12月17日， 教皇弗朗西斯迎来了自己的77岁生日。庆祝活动从早上开始——教皇在梵蒂冈邀请三名罗马流浪汉（其中一人还携带一只狗）共进早餐，一同做弥撒，流浪汉赠送给教皇一束向日葵。

这几位流浪汉经常游荡于罗马附近，就在梵蒂冈城墙外。负责分发救济品的教廷人员邀请他们去梵蒂冈城的宾馆，参加教皇每日举行的弥撒。

罗马教廷表示，教皇弗朗西斯也邀请了住所的工作人员，营造出一种家庭聚餐的氛围，教皇还在布道中谈到了在场的每一个人。

梵蒂冈的孩子们送上了蛋糕，教皇吹灭了蜡烛。来自阿根廷的圣洛伦索足球队带来了他们在锦标赛的奖杯复制品，圣洛伦索队是教皇最喜欢的球队。

教皇也收到了一份意外的礼物，那就是被《提倡者》这本面向同性恋、双性恋和变性群体的杂志评选为“年度人物”。教皇曾就同性恋话题表示“我算老几？没资格评判”，被杂志引用。上周，教皇弗朗西斯也被美国的《时代》杂志评选为“年度人物”。

Three homeless men, one of them carrying his dog, helped Pope Francis celebrate his 77th birthday Tuesday, joining him for Mass and breakfast and presenting him with a bouquet of sunflowers.

The men live on the street in the Rome neighborhood just outside the Vatican’s walls and were invited by the Holy See official in charge of alms-giving to attend the Mass, which Francis celebrates daily at the hotel where he lives on Vatican City grounds.

The Vatican said Francis also invited his household help to join him in a “family-like” atmosphere, and he spoke of them one by one during his homily.

Francis, who is making history as one of the more informal and down-to-earth popes, struck a modest note as he reflected on people’s roles in the world. “Let the Lord write our history,” he said in his homily.

After Mass, all ate breakfast with Francis at the hotel dining room.

The Vatican, which initially said four homeless people joined Francis, later clarified that three men had taken part, all from Eastern Europe: the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano reported that they were asked: “Would you like to come to Pope Francis’ birthday party?” and that the surprise guests brought a bouquet of sunflowers to offer the pope.

Francis had already blown out the candles on his birthday cake, presented to him on Saturday by children at the Vatican. But another present awaits him: A delegation from his favorite Argentine soccer team, San Lorenzo, will give him a replica of their championship trophy.

Vatican officials said no fixed time was set for the papal meeting with officials and at least one player from the team, which clinched the Argentine championship on Sunday. The delegation flew from Argentina on Monday night on a private plane, to arrive in Rome on Tuesday.

“Arriving on such as special day, like the 77th birthday of the pope, this meeting seems made for God,” said the team’s vice president Marcelo Tinelli, shortly before departure.

The pope also got an unexpected birthday gift on Tuesday, named Person of the Year by The Advocate, a US magazine for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. The magazine cited the pope’s “Who am I to judge” comment about gays. Francis was also named Person of the Year by Time magazine last week.

（来源：中国日报网爱新闻iNews 编辑：丹妮）