Flying from Angola to Equatorial Guinea on the final stop of his four-nation African pilgrimage, Pope Leo XIV paused mid-journey on Tuesday to pay heartfelt tribute to his predecessor Pope Francis, marking one year since Francis’ death last Easter Monday.
Speaking to journalists aboard the papal plane in fluent Italian — as the aircraft passed over the Central African Republic, the same nation where Francis opened his landmark 2015 Holy Year of Mercy — Leo reflected on the core themes that defined Francis’ decade-long papacy. He highlighted Francis’ persistent calls for human fraternity, radical respect for all people, and unwavering commitment to walking alongside the marginalized.
“We thank the Lord for the great gift of Francis’ life, given to the church and the entire world,” Leo told reporters, recalling specific memorable homilies that shaped Francis’ public witness. He specifically cited Francis’ first post-election Sunday noon prayer and a moving Mass held two days before his 2013 inauguration, where Francis preached a heartfelt sermon on God’s boundless mercy centered on the biblical story of an adulterous woman.
“So many times what he did was live truly being close to the poorest, the smallest, the sick, children, the elderly,” Leo said. “He gave so much to the church with his life, with his witness, with his word and with his gestures.” He closed his tribute with a plea for prayer, saying “Let us pray that he is still enjoying the mercy of the Lord.”
Francis died at 88 last year, just weeks after he made a final public appearance: riding through St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile to deliver an Easter blessing to gathered crowds, just days after completing a five-week hospital stay for double pneumonia. His passing triggered a conclave just a few weeks later, where Robert Prevost — now known as Pope Leo XIV — was elected to succeed him. As newly uncovered details from a recently released commemorative book confirm, Francis actively paved the way for that outcome.
The first anniversary of Francis’ death is being marked with formal commemorations across Rome, including a special evening Mass scheduled at the St. Mary Major basilica, where Francis is buried, and the launch of multiple books collecting recollections of his papacy. One of the most revealing volumes, *Padre* (Father), written by Vatican Media reporter Salvatore Cernuzio — who developed close personal access to Francis during his papacy — offers direct confirmation of Francis’ high regard for Leo long before his election.
In the book, Cernuzio recounts a 2023 conversation, after Francis announced he would name Prevost a cardinal that year. When asked about the then-Cardinal Prevost, Francis told the reporter simply: “Him? He’s a saint.” Cernuzio notes that when Francis used that term to describe someone, he typically meant the person possessed the rare ability to navigate conflict, tension and complex institutional challenges with calm, while building unity across communities.
That comment adds substantial credibility to the long-held hypothesis that Francis identified Prevost as a potential successor years in advance and intentionally groomed him for the role. Their relationship stretches back decades, to when Prevost served as the global head of the Order of St. Augustine and the future Francis was still Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires. Even a small early disagreement — when Prevost declined to assign an Augustinian priest to a role Bergoglio requested — did not dampen Francis’ esteem.
After Prevost completed his second term leading the Augustinian order, Francis appointed him bishop of the challenging diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where Prevost had already spent 20 years working as a missionary. Prevost quickly rose through the ranks of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference, before Francis called him to Rome in 2023 to lead the Dicastery for Bishops, one of the Vatican’s most powerful departments. The role gave Prevost invaluable experience navigating Vatican bureaucracy and built critical relationships with the college of cardinals that would ultimately elect him pope.
That backing and preparation allowed Prevost to overcome a longstanding unwritten taboo within the Catholic Church against electing an American pope, a restriction rooted in concerns over the United States’ global geopolitical power. Speaking to parishioners in his home state of Illinois earlier this year, Prevost recounted that after that early disagreement decades ago, he naively assumed Francis would forget him and never appoint him to a senior church role. Instead, Francis not only made him a bishop, but spent years laying the groundwork for Prevost to take his place as leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.