English 
The death of Pope Francis surprised us, saddened us, but immediately from the heart arose a deep feeling of gratitude for all that he did, said and above all witnessed in his choices, gestures and in his giving himself to all.
Thank you Pope Francis for having gone out to meet the most distant, the forgotten, the peripheries of the world and for having urged us too to be an outgoing Church. ‘The very nature of the Church is missionary’ you told us, if it were not, it would no longer be the Church of Christ. Not folded in on ourselves, not self-referential or self-preserving, but on the move towards all, especially the most distant and needy.
Thank you Pope Francis because you have given us a solid, decisive and joyful witness to the Gospel. You have invited us too to allow ourselves to be infected by the joyful proclamation of the Gospel: ‘evangelisers must not be sad or discouraged, but animated by the joy of Christ’. Passionate witnesses of Christ, you urged us to be more witnesses than teachers: ‘One does not follow Christ out of a decision taken at the table, but through “falling in love, through loving attraction”’, because ‘contemporary man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers’.
Thank you, finally, for your courage in facing the challenges of our world and our time, for making the voice of Christ heard through your voice, tireless, meek and trusting in humanity. And so you have shown us the path for the future of the Church, a synodal Church, a pilgrim of hope always, even when night seems to prevail. A missionary Church, perhaps ‘bumpy, wounded and dirty from being out on the streets’ towards its neighbour, but content with the same joy of the Risen Christ.
May Pope Francis accompany us and help us to continue Christ’s mission!
