Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to Pope Francis on Tuesday on the first anniversary of his death, recalling his preaching about God’s mercy and his gestures of solidarity with poor people.
“We thank the Lord for the great gift of the life of Francis, to the church and the world,” Leo said.
The American pope delivered the tribute in Italian while speaking with reporters aboard the papal plane heading from Angola to Equatorial Guinea, the final leg of his four-nation African trip.
Francis died on Easter Monday last year after suffering a stroke. He had been at the Vatican recovering from a five-week hospital stay for double pneumonia, and had managed to deliver a final Easter salute to the crowd with a popemobile romp through St. Peter’s Square.
His death, at 88, set the stage for the conclave that elected Leo a few weeks later. It was an outcome for which Francis had laid the groundwork by promoting
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