Pope Leo XIV has paid warm tribute to Pope Francis on the first anniversary of his death, recalling his predecessor’s closeness to the poor, his insistence on mercy, and his effort to place fraternity at the heart of the Church’s witness in the modern world. He spoke to journalists aboard the papal flight from Angola to Equatorial Guinea, the final stage of his African journey.
Marking the anniversary, Leo said Francis had given much to the Church not only through his teaching but through the example of his life. He singled out in particular the late Pope’s concern for “the poorest, the smallest, the sick, children, and the elderly”, presenting that habitual closeness as one of the defining marks of his pontificate.
Leo also reflected on Francis’s repeated emphasis on fraternity, saying his predecessor had sought to foster genuine respect for every person and a deeper sense of brotherhood and sisterhood rooted in the Gospel. Alongside that, he recalled Francis’s stress on divine mercy, describing it as a theme that ran from the very beginning of his pontificate and remained central throughout it.
In that context, Leo referred to Francis’s early preaching on the mercy of God and pointed to the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy as a particularly enduring part of his legacy. He concluded his remembrance by inviting the faithful to pray that Francis was already enjoying the Lord’s mercy and to give thanks for his life and service to the universal Church.
The exchange with reporters then turned to the Church in Angola, where Leo had just concluded a leg of his tour. Asked about relations between Church and state, he said the two should cooperate for the good of the people while respecting their distinct responsibilities. He added that his own conversations in Angola had touched on healthcare and education, including the need to strengthen hospitals and other institutions.
The Pope also said the Church must continue to defend the rights of all people through its witness and preaching. On whether Angola might one day receive a cardinal, he replied that no decisions had yet been made on future appointments, though such a possibility could be considered in time and within the wider context of the universal Church.
Questioned about the possible creation of new dioceses in Angola, Leo said the Church’s growth there was encouraging and suggested that local bishops, in concert with the apostolic nuncio, would be best placed to judge where new ecclesiastical structures might be needed in order to bring pastors closer to the faithful.
Equatorial Guinea is the final stop of Leo’s current African tour, which has also taken him to Algeria, Cameroon and Angola. His programme there includes meetings with civil authorities, representatives of culture, bishops, young people and families, as well as visits to a psychiatric hospital, a prison, and a memorial for the victims of the March 7, 2021, arms depot explosion in Bata. The trip is due to conclude on April 23 with a final Mass before the Pope returns to Rome.
