The China Mail - Fondness for Francis undimmed one year after pope's death

Italian visitor Laura Tonelli, 69, wiped her eyes with a handkerchief after praying at the modest marble tomb in Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, inscribed with just "Franciscus", the Argentine pope's name in Latin.

"It's not sadness, it's gratitude, appreciation for everything he has done for me and my family... like a father who picks you up every time without every judging you," she told AFP.

Pope Francis, a charismatic reformer, died at age 88 on April 21 last year -- Easter Monday -- after having led the world's 1.4 billion Catholics since March 2013.

His immense popularity is evidenced by the long queues that form each day outside the Rome basilica, with the faithful and tourists alike lining up to pay tribute.

The lines were longer than usual Tuesday, with Catholics kneeling before the tomb and bouquets of flowers piling up next to the single white rose laid there daily by church staff.

Argentine Carolina Alberi, 49, had extended her visit to Rome to be at Francis's tomb on Tuesday.

"He lives in us. He was a being who opened a path for us, who showed us a path. With understanding, with kindness, with a lot of resilience as well," she told AFP.

"I would have loved to have gotten here (to Rome) and have him be here," she said, acknowledging that she felt closer to her former countryman than Francis's successor, Pope Leo XIV.

"But, well, he's in us."

Francis died about a month after his discharge from Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he had spent 38 days being treated for pneumonia in both lungs.

He had appeared to the crowds at the Vatican on Easter Sunday, but died the following morning. He became the first pope in a century to be buried outside St Peter's Basilica.

A special mass for Francis will be held Tuesday evening at Santa Maria Maggiore, the Roman basilica dear to the former pope.

- 'Closeness to the poor' -

Pope Leo, who was elected in May 2025 as his successor, offered his own prayers for Francis on Tuesday as he arrived in Equatorial Guinea, the final stop of a four-nation African tour.

"On this first anniversary of his death, I would like to remember Pope Francis, who gave so much to the Church through his life, his witness, his words and his deeds," the first US pontiff told reporters.

"Time and again, he did this by truly living out his closeness to the poorest, the most vulnerable, the sick, children and the elderly."

He added: "Let us pray that he is already enjoying the Lord's mercy, and let us thank the Lord for the great gift of Francis's life to the whole Church and to the whole world."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni noted that Francis reached out to "believers and non-believers alike".

"In his teaching, he consistently emphasised the value of peace, care for the most vulnerable, and responsibility toward others," she wrote on X.

The anniversary comes amid a media storm spurred by US President Donald Trump's harsh criticism last week of Pope Leo's calls for peace in the Middle East war.

Leo on Saturday sought to ease tensions with Washington, saying that a speech about "tyrants" delivered in Cameroon last week had been written well before Trump's outburst.

"It was perceived as if I were trying to start a new debate with the president, which doesn't interest me at all," Leo said.

US Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert who previously said Leo should "stick to matters of morality", subsequently said he was "grateful" for the clarification.

Back at the basilica, Tonelli described Francis as a pope who broke with the Church's "veneer of rigidity and inflexibility", saying it was an "immense gift that God has given us".

"He drew near to us, he came right up close, he took us in his arms, on his shoulders," she said.

"You felt personally loved."

S.Wilson--ThChM