“He loved us at our most fragile and most faithful.”
“A fierce tenderness for the Earth and for the poor.”
“Every one of his actions was a call to love.”
Pope Francis did not speak only to Catholics—he spoke to the conscience of the world. Through his gestures, his words, and his prophetic courage, he inspired a generation of hope-builders: educators, sisters, farmers, migrants, artists, mothers, and young people. Many never met him, yet all felt seen by him. This tribute gathers their voices—each one an echo of his own.
Sr. Marie Véronique Mbélé Ayissi
Missionary Sisters of Hope, Cameroon
Pope Francis told us not to forget the peripheries. So we went—into places abandoned by others, into deep rural communities, into fragile human lives. His call made our lives less about ease and more about presence. I learned to rely on God. I learned that accompaniment could be free. That love for the poor is not a theory. It is a decision. He showed me that the poor and the rich are sisters and brothers. That our management of the Earth must change. That the World Day of the Poor is not an event but a rebuke and a promise.
Sr. Marie Véronique Mbélé Ayissi greets Pope Francis.
Br. John Sulle, OFMCap
Tanzania
Your ministry sparked in us the movement of ecological conversion. In Tanzania, we now plant “birthday trees.” The youth rise with the message of gratitude—gratitude that this planet was never ours to exploit, but to cherish. You guided us with gentle firmness, and we will not forget.
Jeanette Filthaut
Canada
You gave me hope in the time of COVID. Becoming a Laudato Si’ Animator in my senior years changed everything. I found new energy, new joy, a new mission. You helped me teach others to hear the cry of the Earth, the cry of the poor. You were a light in our long night. Through your encyclicals, I found a faith renewed by action, by tenderness, by truth.
Angela
You gave me the courage to speak out loud what I once only whispered: that the Earth is holy, that climate justice is part of the Gospel. Now I say it in my church, in my home, in the streets. Thank you.
Noel Toro
For nine years, I’ve kept your words above my desk: “Trust purely, feel things with simplicity, smile and cry.” You helped me return to the Gospel again and again. You gave me the freedom to feel deeply, and to live as if joy mattered.
Sr. Irene Mercy
Kenya
I remember when you came to Nairobi and visited our HIV program tent. There was no fanfare, just presence. Your humility shook me. You didn’t look down. You looked in. You listened. And in doing so, you made us visible.
Tulio R. Bastidas Viloria
Venezuela
Because of you, I see my work as a forest engineer not just as a profession, but as a vocation. You helped me root it in faith. You made sustainability not a trend, but a moral imperative. In Carabobo, our community has launched “Cumaca Sustentable,” a Laudato Si’ project born from your words and your witness.
Sr. María Graciela Trivilino
Argentina
From one of your daughters in the Franciscan family: Thank you for being a Pastor with the smell of sheep. For walking into forgotten places and naming forgotten people. For reminding us that our mission is not to gather riches but to forge a chain of love, one person at a time. Your feet walked the world. Your words awakened ours.
Alice, Netherlands
We built a core team that organized a range of Laudato Si” activities for our parishioners. We studied Genesis and your texts. We screened documentaries.We handed out seeds of wild flowers during Easter. We planted Laudato Si’ trees. And we prayed. You gave us not just a message, but an instrument. Not just a challenge but a community.
Varinia Moreno Córdova
Gracias, Papa Francisco. You taught us that the smallest gestures could hold the greatest love. You reminded us that faith is not just proclaimed—it is lived, often in silence, with trembling hands, with open hearts. Your legacy is not one idea. It is a thousand seeds.
Let us now say what so many have said in prayer:
You gave us a Church with eyes wide open.
You reminded us that “everything is connected.”
You showed us that to care for creation is to care for Christ.
You gave us the courage to act.
You asked us to dream.
And when you left us, you did so gently, with your last blessing, your last walk among us.
Now, we walk on.
Guided by your love.
Humbled by your example.
And held in your legacy.
Laudato Si’, Papa Francisco. Always.
Disclosure:
Some Laudato Si’ Action Platform participants chose to not disclose their last names in the messages shared above.