Vatican

In the final leg of his apostolic journey to Africa, Pope Leo XIV struck a more measured tone, delivering a message to the faithful while navigating one of the continent’s most politically sensitive environments.

Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva of Buenos Aires rebuked the country’s political class for ignoring Pope Francis’ magisterium on unity by bickering among themselves at a Mass celebrated on the anniversary of the late pope’s passing.

On his last day in Equatorial Guinea, Pope Leo XIV reminded Catholics in the country to seek strength, justice and hope from the Gospel and the sacraments.

Pope Leo XIV arrived April 21 in Equatorial Guinea, the fourth and final country of his 11-day apostolic journey in Africa, where the pope met the country’s longtime ruler and urged the country’s civil authorities to choose justice over power, quoting St. Augustine’s “City of God.”

Flying over the west coast of central Africa on April 21, Pope Leo XIV paused to honor his predecessor on the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ death, remembering the Argentine pope’s witness to mercy and closeness to the poor.

One year ago today, Pope Francis died at 7:35 a.m., April 21, 2025.