On the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ death, Pope Leo XIV praised his predecessor’s “courageous witness” as “a significant heritage for the Church.”

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.

As the one-year anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s election to the papacy approaches, here is a selection of 12 quotes from the new pontiff on various topics, looking back over the 12 months since he became pope May 8, 2025.

Pope Leo XIV traveled to the heart of Angola’s diamond country April 20, urging the tens of thousands gathered at the papal Mass in the country’s northeast to trust that “Christ hears the cry of the people” in the face of evil.

Pope Leo XIV has donated $100,000 to provide access to clean water in El Salvador, supporting a program launched by the papal nuncio to that nation and by Catholic Relief Services, the official humanitarian and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Pope Leo XIV led tens of thousands of Angolan Catholics in praying the rosary April 19 at southern Africa’s most visited Catholic shrine, calling the pilgrimage site a place where “the heart of the Church” is “alive and beating.”

María Rico ambled along a busy Buenos Aires boulevard as part of a caravan through Barrio Flores — the childhood neighbourhood of the late Pope Francis — to commemorate the first anniversary of the Argentine pontiff’s death.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated an outdoor Mass for an estimated 100,000 Catholics in Angola on Sunday, April 19, urging the faithful of a nation still bearing the scars of a decades-long civil war to find renewed hope in the Eucharist and the Risen Christ.

The world had its eyes fixed on the 10th floor of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital in 2025, waiting, hoping and praying that Pope Francis would recover.