In a message to Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, for the first anniversary of Pope Francis’s death, Pope Leo XIV said that his predecessor “remained a disciple of the Lord, faithful to his Baptism and consecration in the episcopal ministry, until the end. He was also a missionary, proclaiming the Gospel of mercy ‘to all, to all, to all,’ as he said several times.”
“In harmony with his predecessors, he took up the legacy of the Second Vatican Council and spurred the Church to be open to mission,” Pope Leo continued. “We still hear his exhortations, expressed in eloquent words, to make the good news more understandable: mercy, peace, brotherhood, the smell of the sheep, the field hospital and many others. Each of these expressions brings us back to the Gospel he lived with a new language that proclaims the same Gospel as always.”
Pope Leo also highlighted his predecessor’s Marian devotion.
“Pope Francis nurtured a deep devotion to Mary throughout his life,” he said, citing his visits to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major and Marian shrines around the world. “May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, help us to be tireless apostles of her divine Son and prophets of his merciful love in every circumstance.”