"We cannot conclude this encounter without remembering, with deep gratitude, our beloved Pope Francis, who returned to the Father's house exactly one month ago."

With these words, Pope Leo XIV recalled his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, who passed away exactly a month ago, on Easter Monday, 21 April 2025.

His remarks came at the conclusion of his first General Audience in St. Peter's Square on 21 May.

Remembering late Pope Francis

Precisely a month after the late Pope's death, a memorial Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday at the Marian Basilica of St. Mary Major, which the late Holy Father chose as his final resting place.

Earlier, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Papal Almoner and Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, celebrated a Mass for personnel at the Casa Santa Marta.

In his homily, the Polish-born Cardinal recalled the late Pope's daily Masses in the residence's chapel, noting that he always began preparing the day before by reading the next day's Gospel and underlining a few words that touched him.

"He employed the logic of the Gospel when he needed to resolve his problems and those of the Church," said Cardinal Krajewski. "He often said: 'If you don't know what to do, search the Gospels to see what Jesus would have done in your place, and then you'll know."

The Mass in the Casa Santa Marta was concelebrated by Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, Archbishop of Łódź, in Poland.

Pope Leo and his predecessor

After making an excursion to a Marian Shrine near Rome on the Saturday after he was elected Pope, Pope Leo XIV stopped by the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray near the tomb of Pope Francis.

The Holy Father also remembered the late Pope from the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica immediately after his election, and how he had given his blessing to the city of Rome and the world from the same balcony on Easter Sunday.

Encouraging religious, families, and the youth to joyfully and fruitfully live the faith

Also at the conclusion of the weekly General Audience, Pope Leo extended a warm welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims, including priests, whom he urged "to build their lives on Jesus and on the solid rock of His Word, so that they may be courageous proclaimers of it."

In the same token, the Holy Father gave encouragement to religious sisters, reassuring, "Dear sisters, I accompany you with my prayers so that the Lord may make your apostolic commitment fruitful."

Moreover, he warmly welcomed parish groups, encouraging them "to faithfully follow the Gospel, to be authentic Christians in their families and in every other setting."

And finally his thoughts went to young people, the sick, and newlyweds, "wishing each of them to always serve God with joy and to love their neighbor with a Gospel spirit."