Monsignor Hilary Franco, adviser for the mission to the Holy See, recalled his close friendship with Pope Francis, telling Newsmax on Thursday that the late Pope had a "tremendous sense of humor" and will be missed.
"My good friend is gone to heaven," Franco, the author of "Six Popes," told Newsmax's Rob Astorino, who is at Vatican City for the coverage of the Pope's visitation and upcoming funeral.
"I know that he's praying for us, praying for the church, praying for the world. This is a man who had the courage to face the world and try to do as much as he could to bring peace to this disenchanted world that we live in."
Franco added that Francis "tried his best" and had the "whole world" in his hands.
Franco, who knew the late Pope as his friend, Jorge Bergoglio, was a man who was "so down to earth, very humble and smiling at all times, no matter what."
In the "history of humanity," said Franco, "and I'm not saying the history of the church ... I feel that we should consider him to be a leader of the world."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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