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6 days ago
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DPA
Mon, April 21, 2025 at 8:43 AM UTC
1 min read
Friedrich Merz, CDU candidate for chancellor and CDU federal chairman, takes part in a press conference of the CDU/CSU and SPD party chairmen to present the coalition agreement in the Paul Loebe House. Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa
Germany's chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said Pope Francis would be remembered for his "tireless commitment to the weakest in society."
"The death of Pope Francis fills me with great sadness," Merz wrote on X on Monday.
"Francis will be remembered for his tireless commitment to the weakest in society, to justice and reconciliation. Humility and faith in God's mercy guided him in this.
"In doing so, the first Latin American to sit on the Holy See touched people worldwide, across denominational boundaries. My thoughts at this time are with the faithful around the world who have lost their Holy Father. May he rest in peace."
Merz, a conservative politician, is due to become chancellor of Germany early next month.
Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on College Green, as he travels in the Popemobile during his visit to Ireland. The head of the Catholic Church, who led 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide since 2013, died on Monday at the age of 88, the Vatican announced. The Argentinian-born pontiff was the first from Latin America. Joe Giddens/PA Wire/dpa
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