The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) joins the Catholic Church, the entire Christendom, and the workers of the world in mourning the death of Pope Francis, the workers’ and people’s pope.

We will remember Pope Francis as a true follower of Christ, a champion of the dignity of workers and all humans, of labor and human rights, and of social justice and the environment.

Pope Francis truly served as the conscience of the world in a dark period in history. During his papacy, workers and the oppressed and their allies knew that the Vatican would always take the stands that favor them on the most important social, economic and political issues.

We take special note of the paths that he broke in taking the progressive stand on controversial issues – women and LGTBQ, liberation theology and Communism, profit and globalization, Palestine and authoritarian attacks on civic spaces.

We cherish the memories of his visit to the Philippines, the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia, in 2015, after the Filipino workers and people suffered from one of the strongest typhoons in history and government neglect.

We will always remember how, under his leadership, the Catholic Church in the Philippines provided refuge and succor to victims of Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, unfazed by the former president’s verbal attacks and threats.

We hope that the Catholic bishops will find a replacement that will continue and build on Pope Francis’ legacy. As the world faces increasing superpower rivalry and belligerence, continuing genocide, severe economic and cost-of-living crises, worsening climate emergency, and labor and human rights violations, we need someone like Pope Francis at the helm of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis leaves a rich legacy from which the Filipino workers and people and the workers of the world will continue to draw from in our struggles for labor and human rights and social and environmental justice.

Pope Francis will continue to be a symbol held aloft by workers’ struggles for change in the Catholic Church, in the workplace, and in society. He has died, but he will continue to live on in our hearts, minds and struggles.