Catholics marched in a caravan through the Barrio Flores section of Buenos Aires – where Pope Francis was born – to commemorate the first anniversary of the Argentine pontiff’s death. Source: OSV News.
Maria Rico joined the caravan and recalled first meeting the future pope when he was a Jesuit priest.
Ms Rico, 66, fondly remembered him returning later as the then-Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires routinely visited her modest barrio, or district, where he would walk the streets, celebrate parish feast days and share bowls of lentils with parishioners during the cold winter months.
She has clung to the memories, but also the Pope’s teachings. “The important thing that he instilled in us was unity,” Ms Rico said, “that we do not leave anyone on the outside.”
The caravan began with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Gustavo Carrara of La Plata, who said at the Basilica of San Jose de Flores on April 11, “Just as you are is how you can shape life and begin to walk its paths. It’s about being there, side by side, about seeing reality so that the periphery is truly visible, seeing it through the eyes of the humble, the poor, the marginalised.”
He continued, “Enough of looking at ourselves from the centre, enough of looking from a position of power, enough of looking at ourselves from a dominant position. The true view of reality comes from humility and from the periphery, from need and from encounter. Today we reaffirm this act of love.”
Pope Francis died April 21, 2025, at the age of 88. His death drew outpourings of emotion around the world and in his native Argentina.
Catholics in his homeland are marking the first anniversary of Pope Francis’s death with events remembering his ministry and impact in the country, where he played a prominent role in Argentina’s public life and his image was drawn into its messy politics.
Other events include a homage to Pope Francis at the Plaza de Mayo – outside the Metropolitan Cathedral – with a performance by Portuguese DJ and priest, Fr Guilherme Peixoto, and a Mass on the anniversary of his death at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján.
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Pope Francis remembered in Buenos Aires as ‘guiding light’ for Argentine Church (By David Agren, OSV News)
