Pope Leo pays tribute to Pope Francis on the anniversary of his death

Pope Francis waves to the crowd on the occasion of his visit at the Central Mosque in Bangui's Muslim enclave of PK5, Central African Republic, on Nov. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — 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 the former missionary priest, Robert Prevost, whom he considered “a saint.”

In his tribute, Leo recalled with precision some of Francis’ most memorable homilies and messages, saying he “gave so much to the church with his life, with his witness, with his word and with his gestures.”

“So many times what he did was live truly being close to the poorest, the smallest, the sick, children, the elderly,” he said.

He cited Francis’ preaching promoting human fraternity and “authentic respect” among all people, as well as a special Holy Year he called in 2015 to emphasize God’s mercy and forgiveness. Francis famously opened the year in the Central African Republic, and Leo delivered his tribute just as his plane was flying over that part of Africa.

Leo recalled Francis’ first Sunday noon prayer as pope, and a Mass he celebrated two days before his pontificate was officially inaugurated, when he preached about an adulterous woman “and how he spoke from the heart of the mercy of God.”

“Let us pray that he is still enjoying the mercy of the Lord,” Leo said.

Books recall Francis’ life and what he thought of Prevost

The anniversary was being marked with commemorations in Rome, including the release of commemorative books about and recollections of Francis, and a Mass on Tuesday evening at St. Mary Major basilica, where Francis’ tomb is located.

Among the flurry of recollections, one by Salvatore Cernuzio stands out because it offers a view of the current pope from his predecessor.

Cernuzio, an Italian reporter with Vatican Media, the Holy See’s in-house news operation, developed a close personal relationship with Francis and often traveled in his entourage when the pope left the Vatican. However, the book, entitled “Padre,” or “Father,” details the private side of their relationship, of Cernuzio’s visits with Francis at the Santa Marta hotel where he lived, and their conversations.

“Him? He’s a saint,” Francis told Cernuzio of the then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, whom Francis had brought to Rome in 2023 to take up the important job heading the Vatican’s bishop-vetting office.

Francis’ assessment, delivered in 2023 after he had announced Prevost would be included in his new batch of cardinals that year, adds even more weight to the hypothesis that Francis saw in Prevost a possible successor.

Cernuzio recalls that when Francis called someone a saint, it was usually “to describe people who are able to handle conflicts, tensions, and complex situations with composure, and who are able to foster a sense of community.”

Prevost was spotted and promoted by Francis

The hypothesis that Francis laid the groundwork for Prevost’s election is well-founded, given it’s clear Francis had his eye on Prevost from the start and greatly appreciated his experience as a missionary who spent two decades working in Peru.

After Prevost finished a second consecutive stint as head of the Order of St. Augustine, Francis sent him in 2014 to be bishop of the complicated diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, and he rose up within the Peruvian bishops conference from there to take on leadership roles.

Francis then moved Prevost to head one of the most important Vatican jobs — prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops — that gave Prevost crucial experience in the Vatican bureaucracy and contacts with the cardinals who would eventually choose Francis’ successor.

The combination made Prevost a viable contender in a future papal election, overcoming the otherwise impossible conclave hurdle of his American citizenship. There had long been a taboo in the church against a U.S. pope, given the geopolitical power the country already wields.

The two men, who later became good friends, had known each other from when Prevost was the Augustinian prior general and the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Prevost has recounted that at one point Bergoglio had expressed interest in assigning an Augustinian priest to a specific job in his archdiocese.

“And I, as prior general, said ‘I understand, Your Eminence, but he’s got to do something else’ and so I transferred him somewhere else,” Prevost told parishioners in his home state of Illinois in 2024.

Prevost said he “naively” thought the Francis wouldn’t remember him after his 2013 election as pope, and that regardless “he’ll never appoint me bishop” due to the disagreement years earlier.

Bergoglio not only made him bishop, he laid the groundwork for Prevost to succeed him.

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press