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Today the world pauses to celebrate the life and mourn the loss of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at 88 years old. A son of Argentina, Francis was the first Pope from the Americas and the first from among the Jesuits. But he never forgot what Jesus said: “whoever would be first among you must be the servant of all.” Pope Francis was a pastor who followed the humble Way of Jesus and the prophets, choosing to stand with the poor and vulnerable of the world.
Earlier this week, the New York Times [ [link removed] ] called to ask how the Pope’s death will impact the future of the work he championed. This is what I told them:
Rev. William Barber II, a civil-rights leader and ordained minister in the Disciples of Christ denomination, said the loss of Pope Francis meant others must carry on his mission to the marginalized.
“We must now say, ‘I am Pope Francis,’” he said.
In the Bible the Apostle Paul says, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Pope Francis wanted the same. If we would remember him rightly and honor his legacy, we must continue his unfinished work alongside the poor and vulnerable, following him as he followed the one who preached good news to the poor.
I was deeply moved in 2017, after Pope Francis published his first encyclical, Laudato Si, to receive his invitation to respond to his encyclical as part of an international Congress of workers at the Vatican. I saw it as an act of deep humility that the leader of the global Roman Catholic communion asked me and representatives of other workers’ movements to weigh in on his message to the church. When he sat and ate with workers and the unhoused of Rome, he wasn’t just performing a role. He was leading in the Way of the One he’d chosen to follow.
I read Pope Francis’ declaration that “solidarity, understood in its deepest sense, is a way of making history,” and I sensed, in the language of the Scriptures, that deep was calling out to deep. He wrote in his greetings to our 2017 gathering [ [link removed] ], “I hope that this Congress will produce a synergy able to propose concrete lines of action.” Pope Francis didn’t want us to praise his words. He wanted us to make plans to join the work.
Pope Francis’ moral analysis was informed by his experience of becoming a pastor and a public theologian during Argentina’s “Dirty War.” He knew the violence of autocratic regimes that disappear people who dissent, and he understood how their anti-democratic agenda was justified by neoliberal economic theory. He listened closely to the economists who tried to explain how policies that hurt people would benefit the nation, and he called their sophisticated talk “magical thinking.”
As a preacher and a story-teller, Pope Francis understood the particular role of moral articulation. He insisted that religious leaders must play a leading role in the struggle for justice in dialogue with all social and political actors. We must articulate a way of thinking that brings together the complexity of the current situation and proposes an action strategy for the construction of a just society. Not only is democracy at stake, but the wellbeing of world itself.
The monumental contribution of Laudato Si, I argued in 2017, was its clarion call to frame labor rights and land rights in moral terms. This framing merged fundamental religious, human, and progressive values, helping the world see the common good as a divine call and moral demand of God to be implemented and worked out in the public square. Pope Francis didn’t just challenge the political movements like Christian nationalism that distort faith to justify political extremism. He showed the world what a faithful public theology looks like.
I was honored to return to the Vatican in 2021 to work with the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on a moral agenda to end poverty, care for the earth, and ensure the well-being of all creatures.
At the Academy I had the chance to see firsthand how Pope Francis was committed to work with scholars from all over the world to identify the best policies to shape a moral agenda that can make a more just world possible. He knew that Jesus didn’t just offer charity to the poor people he met; he had a vision and a plan to end poverty, and it is impossible to follow Jesus without taking up his plan.
So what does it mean for us to say, “I am Pope Francis” now?
It means raising a moral dissent against the abuse of political power that is disappearing immigrants in the name of national security today.
It means challenging the “magical thinking” of a Congress that says a budget that slashes funding for social programs will not harm real people.
It means proclaiming the good news that there is enough to take care of everyone and doing the hard work to build communities of care.
It means trusting the voices of poor and working people and working with them to build a better world.
This is why I am remembering Pope Francis not by going to Rome for his funeral, but to Washington, DC to launch Moral Monday at the Capitol [ [link removed] ], where the current crisis of civilization is reaching an inflection point as Congress moves to pass a budget that will make every illegal DOGE attempt to slash federal funding the law of the land. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has parroted the regime he aims to impress, calling this budget “one big, beautiful bill.” He says that Congress can cut $1.5 trillion from a $5 trillion budget without cutting people’s Medicaid or Social Security. This is what Pope Francis called “magical thinking.” It is a lie dressed up as a fantasy. And it will have disastrous consequences for all of us—especially the most vulnerable.
To be Pope Francis now is to stand up to a regime not unlike the one he experienced as a young man in Argentina—one that is willing to disappear people and disregard democratic norms. It is to take a stand with people whose lives depend on Medicaid and SNAP, federal housing assistance and Social Security. It is to proclaim that a better way is possible and to believe, even in the darkest night, that we are closer to the dawn of a better world than most of us are willing to believe. It is to affirm that the humble way of love that he followed as he followed Christ still has the power to transform our broken world.
If you are in the DC area, please join us Monday, April 28, for Moral Monday at the Capitol [ [link removed] ]. You can also view the livestream here [ [link removed] ].

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