ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to Pope Francis on Tuesday on the primary anniversary of his dying, recalling his preaching about God’s mercy and his gestures of solidarity with poor individuals.
“We thank the Lord for the good reward of the lifetime of Francis, to the church and the world,” Leo mentioned.
The American pope delivered the tribute in Italian whereas talking with reporters aboard the papal airplane heading from Angola to Equatorial Guinea, the ultimate leg of his four-nation African journey.
Francis died on Easter Monday final 12 months after struggling a stroke. He had been on the Vatican recovering from a five-week hospital keep for double pneumonia, and had managed to ship a ultimate Easter salute to the gang with a popemobile romp by St. Peter’s Sq..
His dying, at 88, set the stage for the conclave that elected Leo a number of weeks later. It was an consequence for which Francis had laid the groundwork by selling the previous missionary priest, Robert Prevost, whom he thought of “a saint.”
In his tribute, Leo recalled with precision a few of Francis’ most memorable homilies and messages, saying he “gave a lot to the church along with his life, along with his witness, along with his phrase and along with his gestures.”
“So many occasions what he did was dwell really being near the poorest, the smallest, the sick, kids, the aged,” he mentioned.
He cited Francis’ preaching selling human fraternity and “genuine respect” amongst all individuals, in addition to a particular Holy 12 months he known as in 2015 to emphasise God’s mercy and forgiveness. Francis famously opened the 12 months within the Central African Republic, and Leo delivered his tribute simply as his airplane was flying over that a part of Africa.
Leo recalled Francis’ first Sunday midday prayer as pope, and a Mass he celebrated two days earlier than his hold forth was formally inaugurated, when he preached about an adulterous lady “and the way he spoke from the center of the mercy of God.”
“Allow us to pray that he’s nonetheless having fun with the mercy of the Lord,” Leo mentioned.
The anniversary was being marked with commemorations in Rome, together with the discharge of commemorative books about and recollections of Francis, and a Mass on Tuesday night at St. Mary Main basilica, the place Francis’ tomb is situated.
Among the many flurry of recollections, one by Salvatore Cernuzio stands out as a result of it presents a view of the present pope from his predecessor.
Cernuzio, an Italian reporter with Vatican Media, the Holy See’s in-house information operation, developed an in depth private relationship with Francis and sometimes traveled in his entourage when the pope left the Vatican. Nevertheless, the e-book, entitled “Padre,” or “Father,” particulars the non-public facet of their relationship, of Cernuzio’s visits with Francis on the Santa Marta lodge the place he lived, and their conversations.
“Him? He’s a saint,” Francis advised Cernuzio of the then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, whom Francis had delivered to Rome in 2023 to take up the vital job heading the Vatican’s bishop-vetting workplace.
Francis’ evaluation, delivered in 2023 after he had introduced Prevost could be included in his new batch of cardinals that 12 months, provides much more weight to the speculation that Francis noticed in Prevost a potential successor.
Cernuzio recollects that when Francis known as somebody a saint, it was often “to explain people who find themselves in a position to deal with conflicts, tensions, and sophisticated conditions with composure, and who’re in a position to foster a way of group.”
The speculation that Francis laid the groundwork for Prevost’s election is well-founded, given it’s clear Francis had his eye on Prevost from the beginning and significantly appreciated his expertise as a missionary who spent 20 years working in Peru.
After Prevost completed a second consecutive stint as head of the Order of St. Augustine, Francis despatched him in 2014 to be bishop of the difficult diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, and he rose up throughout the Peruvian bishops convention from there to tackle management roles.
Francis then moved Prevost to go one of the vital vital Vatican jobs — prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops — that gave Prevost essential expertise within the Vatican forms and contacts with the cardinals who would ultimately select Francis’ successor.
The mixture made Prevost a viable contender in a future papal election, overcoming the in any other case unattainable conclave hurdle of his American citizenship. There had lengthy been a taboo within the church towards a U.S. pope, given the geopolitical energy the nation already wields.
The 2 males, who later turned good pals, had identified one another from when Prevost was the Augustinian prior normal and the previous Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Prevost has recounted that at one level Bergoglio had expressed curiosity in assigning an Augustinian priest to a particular job in his archdiocese.
“And I, as prior normal, mentioned ‘I perceive, Your Eminence, however he’s obtained to do one thing else’ and so I transferred him some place else,” Prevost advised parishioners in his house state of Illinois in 2024.
Prevost mentioned he “naively” thought the Francis wouldn’t keep in mind him after his 2013 election as pope, and that regardless “he’ll by no means appoint me bishop” because of the disagreement years earlier.
Bergoglio not solely made him bishop, he laid the groundwork for Prevost to succeed him.
