Pope Leo in Africa remembers Francis’s legacy of mercy

ON BOARD THE PAPAL PLANE – Flying over a region not far from where Pope Francis in Bangui in 2015 inaugurated the Jubilee of Mercy, Leo XIV lauded his predecessor’s legacy of mercy on the one-year anniversary of his death.

Speaking to journalists on April 21 on his ITA Airways flight from Luanda, Angola, to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Pope Leo noted that the day marked the first anniversary of Pope Francis’s death.

Pope Francis, Leo said, “gave so much to the church with his life, his testimony, his words, and his gestures many times with what he did, truly living the closeness to the poorest, to the smallest, to the sick, to the children, and to the elderly.”

“He left a lot to the church with his witness, and with his words,” he said, and recalled Pope Francis’s commitment to human fraternity, “trying to promote an authentic respect for all men and women, promoting this spirit of fraternity, of all being brothers and sisters.”

Francis, he said, strove to help the church “live the message that we find in the Gospel, but recognizing this spirit of fraternity among all.”

Leo also pointed to the emphasis his predecessor placed on the mercy and forgiveness of God, present in his first Angelus address and in the Mass he celebrated after his election, prior to his papal inauguration ceremony.

“He wanted to share this spirit with the entire church, also giving that beautiful celebration of an extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy,” Leo said, recalling how Pope Francis chose to open that jubilee year in Bangui, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in November 2015, opening the holy door in Bangui’s cathedral in November 2015, rather than inaugurating it with the traditional opening of the holy door in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Let us pray that he is already enjoying the mercy of God. And we thank the Lord for the great gift of Francis’s life for the entire church, and the entire world,” Leo said.

He then acknowledged the birthdays of some members of the press corps traveling with him, and took questions from three Angolan journalist on board about collaboration between the church and civil society, whether there will be new cardinals for Angola, which currently has none, and whether new dioceses and bishops will be created for Angola, given the rapid growth of the Catholic Church in the country.

In terms of church-state collaboration, Leo said the church and authorities are “all work together for the good of the whole population, btu from different perspectives.”

He said he spoke with Angola’s president about the need to collaborate in improving healthcare and education facilities in Angola, and with the construction of new hospitals and schools, making a “strong commitment for the good of the people.”

“This is very important,” he said, voicing his belief that the Church, with “the responsibility with its witness, with its words, and also with preaching, we can say, an announcement of the Word of God of recognizing the rights of everyone,” can help society “to promote universal rights.”

In terms of whether Angola can expect the appointment of a cardinal soon, Pope Leo said the issue must be evaluated “at the global level,” and said that in a future consistory, “I’m not saying the next one, a bit further on,” there might be a new cardinal for Angola.

Leo also expressed his joy at the rapid growth of Catholicism in Angola, noting that “there are other places in the world where the opposite is happening.”

“Here there is a call to evangelization, to continue announcing the Gospel, and to try to invite others. It is not proselytism, as Pope Francis said many times, but for the beauty and attraction of the faith,” he said, saying, “the joy of believers is one of the best announcements of the faith, of the Gospel.”

Given the Angolan church’s growth, he said it is the task of local bishops in collaboration with the papal nuncio in the country to make concrete proposals for where new dioceses can be created “for the good of the people,” and for new bishops to be named, “with more closeness as pastors of the people.”

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