Pope Leo XIV prays at Pope Francis memorial in Buenos Aires Cathedral and receives a white rose from his family

Pope Leo XIV prays at Pope Francis memorial in Buenos Aires Cathedral and receives a white rose from his family.

Pope Leo XIV ended his second day in Argentina with a quiet act of remembrance, stopping to pray before a marble plaque honoring Pope Francis inside the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, Vatican News reported.

The plaque, kept behind the cathedral's main altar beside Francis' coat of arms and his motto Miserando atque eligendo, marks Jorge Mario Bergoglio's years as the 11th Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013 and his pontificate from 2013 to 2025. Vatican News said it was updated after Francis' death and restored for Pope Leo's visit.

Before leading Vespers with Argentina's bishops and the country's synodal teams, the Pope stood in silent prayer in the same cathedral where Francis once celebrated Mass, heard confessions and met the faithful. Cardinal Marcelo Colombo, president of the Argentine Bishops' Conference, stood beside him with six children from local parishes, who knelt and laid small bouquets beneath the plaque. Asked how he was, one boy, Tomi, told the Pope, "I'm moved."

Pope Leo had invited Francis' eight nieces and nephews, who presented him with a white rose at the end of the service. The flower echoes the white rose always kept on Francis' tomb at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, a symbol of his lifelong devotion to St. Thérèse of Lisieux. The family called it "a small sign of love, faith, and continuity."

Vatican News noted that Pope Leo has spoken of his predecessor repeatedly since the start of the trip, including in his Vespers homily, where he recalled the landmark Aparecida gathering of Latin American bishops. BBC News reported that the visit to Buenos Aires is the second stop on a 12-day Latin America tour coming just weeks after the Pope's lung surgery.