On board the papal plane — Pope Leo XIV mourned Pope Francis on Tuesday, the first anniversary of his death, recalling his sermons on God’s mercy and his gestures of solidarity with the poor.
“We thank God for the great gift that Francis’ life gave to the Church and the world,” Liu said.
The American Pope delivered the tribute in Italian while speaking to reporters on board the papal plane heading from Angola to Equatorial Guinea, the last stop of his African tour that includes four countries.
Pope Francis waves to the crowd on the occasion of his visit to the Central Mosque in the PK5 Islamic enclave in Bangui, Central African Republic, on November 30, 2015.
AP Photo/Jerome Delay, file
Francis died on Easter Monday last year after suffering a stroke. He had been in the Vatican recovering from a five-week hospital stay for double pneumonia, and was able to offer a final Easter greeting to the public with the pope’s tour of St. Peter’s Square.
His death at the age of 88 paved the way for the conclave that elected Leo a few weeks later. It was this outcome for which Francis laid the foundation by promoting the former missionary priest Robert Prevost, whom he considered a “saint.”
In his tribute, Liu carefully recalled some of Francis’ most memorable sermons and letters, saying that he “gave much to the Church by his life, by his witness, by his word and by his gestures.”
“What he did very often was he lived really close to the poor, the youngest, the sick, the children, the elderly,” he said.
He cited Francis’ preaching promoting human brotherhood and “true respect” among all people, as well as a special Holy Year he called for in 2015 to emphasize God’s mercy and forgiveness. Francis is known to have opened the year in the Central African Republic, and Leo saluted him as his plane flew over that part of Africa.
Leo recalled Francis’s first Sunday afternoon prayer as pope, and the Mass he celebrated two days before his official inauguration of the papacy, when he preached about an adulterous woman “and how he spoke from his heart about God’s mercy.”
“Let’s pray that he still enjoys the Lord’s mercy,” Liu said.
The books mention Francis’ life and what he thought of Prevost
The anniversary was marked with remembrances in Rome, including the issuance of commemorative books about Francis and his memories, and a Mass on Tuesday evening in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where Francis’ tomb is located.
Among the flurry of reminiscences, one by Salvatore Cernozio stands out because it offers a view of the current pope from his predecessor.
Cernozio, an Italian correspondent for Vatican Media, the Holy See’s internal news operation, developed a close personal relationship with Francis and often traveled with his entourage when the pope left the Vatican. However, the book, titled “Father” or “Father”, details the private side of their relationship, Cernosio’s visits with Francis at the Santa Marta hotel where he lived, and their conversations.
“He? He’s a saint,” Francis told Cernuzio of then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, whom Francis brought to Rome in 2023 to take on the important job of heading the Vatican’s bishop’s office of examination.
Francis’ assessment, delivered in 2023 after he announced that Prevost would be included in his new group of cardinals that year, adds further weight to the hypothesis that Francis saw in Prevost a potential successor.
When Francis described someone as a saint, it was usually “to describe people who are able to deal with conflicts, tensions, and complex situations with equanimity, and who are able to foster a sense of community,” Cernozio recalls.
Prevost was spotted and promoted by Francis
The hypothesis that Francis laid the groundwork for Prevost’s election is justified, since Francis clearly had his eye on Prevost from the beginning and highly valued his experience as a missionary who had spent two decades working in Peru.
After Prevost completed his second consecutive stint as head of the Order of St. Augustine, Francis sent him in 2014 to serve as bishop of the complex Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, and he ascended within the Peruvian bishops’ conference from there to take on leadership roles.
Francis then moved Prevost to head one of the Vatican’s most important posts—head of the bishops’ department—giving Prevost crucial experience in the Vatican bureaucracy and communications with the cardinals who would ultimately choose Francis’ successor.
This combination made Prevost a strong contender in future papal elections, overcoming the impossible conclave obstacle of his American citizenship. There has long been a taboo in the church against an American pope, given the geopolitical power the country already enjoys.
The two men later became good friends, knowing each other since Prevost was the former Augustinian general and former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Prevost recounted that at one point Bergoglio expressed interest in appointing an Augustinian priest to a specific position in his diocese.
“And I said, as a former general, I understand that, Your Eminence, but he has to do something else, so I moved him somewhere else,” Prevost told parishioners in his home state of Illinois in 2024.
Prevost said he “naively” believed Francis would not remember him after he was elected pope in 2013, and that regardless “he would never appoint me as bishop” because of the disagreement years ago.
Bergoglio not only appointed him bishop, but laid the groundwork for Prevost to succeed him.
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