“He gave so much through his life and his closeness to the poor. He preached the massage of mercy. Let us pray that he is already enjoying the Lord’s mercy”. This is how Pope Francis was commemorated, one year after his death, by the Pope as he was flying from Angola to Equatorial Guinea, the last stop in his apostolic journey. “On this first anniversary of his death, I would like to remember Pope Francis, who left so much, who gave so much to the Church through his life, his witness, his words, and his gestures”, Leo XIV said, as reported by Vatican News: “He did so by truly living closeness to the poorest, to the least, to the sick, to children, and to the elderly”. Bergoglio, the Pope summed up, “left so much to the Church through his witness and his words”, by endlessly calling to “universal fraternity”, by trying to “promote authentic respect for all men and all women, promoting a spirit of fraternity, of being brothers and sisters, all of us, and of seeking how to live the message we find in the Gospel”. Pope Francis’s other message that Pope Leo recalled was that of mercy, embodied by his “beautiful celebration of an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy”, in a “spirit” that he “wanted to share with the whole Church”. “Let us pray that he is already enjoying the Lord’s mercy”, Leo XIV ended: “Let us thank the Lord for the great gift of Francis’ life to the whole Church and to the whole world”.