Tens of thousands of people, many of them children, serenaded Pope Francis on his 81st birthday on Sunday.

The crowd sang Happy Birthday in Italian as the pontiff appeared at the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter's Square for his weekly message and blessing.

The first Latin American pope was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires. The former cardinal of the Argentine capital became leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in 2013.

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