Pope Francis Had a Pizza Party for His Birthday and Invited Everyone

If you’re a parent, you’re familiar with birthday parties for your child’s friends. You usually take them to an amusement park, play center, or restaurant. You likely spend the duration of the party with them, especially if they’re under the age of ten. But what do you do when the Pope invites your child to his birthday pizza party?

When Pope Francis turned 81 earlier this month, he decided to have a 13-foot long pizza with a candle popped right in the middle. Since the Pope, nor anyone else, really, could eat 13 feet of pizza by themselves, he decided that it would be a good idea to invite a group of children to help devour the pie. TIME reports that the group of children attended the Vatican’s pediatric clinic.

After the Pope blew out his candles he encouraged the children to “eat all four meters” of the pizza because it would help them grow. Now, the Pope isn’t new to the love of pizza. Back in 2015, he told TIME that the only thing he doesn’t like about being the leader of the Catholic Church is that he can’t slip out of the Vatican and head to a local pizza shop for a quick slice.

“The one thing that I would like is to go out, without anyone recognizing me, and go to a pizzeria to eat pizza,” Pope Francis said.

After the celebratory eating of the pizza, thousands of children gathered in St. Peter’s Square to wish the Pope a happy birthday and to send him well-wishes. During the weekly appearance, Pope Francis expressed his gratitude and thanked all of the children for what they were saying.

In Italy, pizzas for pizza parties aren’t cooked in the standard circle like they are in the United States. According to WGN, during the Pope’s pizza party, rectangular individual slices of pizza were stretched across the table so that everyone could have their very own slice.

With his birthday party shenanigans, Pope Francis proves once again why he’s the Internet’s favorite pope.