With the memory of April 25 still fresh in our minds, the week ahead should always be a reason to remember how much we value our workers and their struggle for more and better rights in a society increasingly geared towards the elites. However, this is also the week we should reflect on the legacy of a good human being who recently passed away.
Fresh in our minds, the week ahead should always be a reason to remember how much we value our workers and their struggle for more and better societal rights. On April 21, at the crack of dawn, we received the news that the Pope had died. Jorge, his profane name, later anointed Francis by the powers vested in the Vatican, was a personality of great prominence in the recent history of humanity. Even though he was the leader of one of the nations with the most vices and complications, and with a long history of oppression and corruption, Francis stood out, not only for his reformist attitude, but also for the sincerity and affection he behaved throughout his life. Even though he sat in the center of a gigantic palace, built with arguably acquired money, the Pope never abandoned a humanist matrix in how he acted and dialoged with the millions of faithful who followed him worldwide.
Much has already been written about Francis’ life and work. I don’t intend to bring you anything new on the subject, and I’ve already given my personal reflection on his death and how it touched me in particular. But when I sat down at the keyboard to write this week’s chronicle on May Day, Francis first came to mind.
Throughout his time as Pope, he gave countless speeches and thoughts to the world on almost all of the great fracturing issues of our time. Among the wealth of knowledge he shared with us, given May 1st, I can’t help but highlight some of what Francis offered us. First of all, the late pontiff was a fervent defender of the role of trade unions in working life. For him, they were organizations of fundamental importance in defending the dignity of the workplace, and they should be honoured for the importance they have assumed historically, and supported, so that they can continue to properly elevate the place of the ordinary worker to the prominence they deserve.
Francisco never ran away from the ghosts of the Church. Still, he knew how to reorganize them, valuing the pillars of freedom and social equality over the stratigraphy of classes, which other Popes defended unbridled. For that good man, when the sun rises, it must rise for “all, all, all”. It has become a cliché to quote his expression, but we mustn’t forget the ideology behind it. Much more than any president could ever hope to be, he was a leader of affection, who will be deeply missed on his departure, and a manifesto of work to one day make the Vatican truly Christian again.
For this very reason, the forces of hatred and the extreme right have been deeply hurt by Francis’ legacy. The little Portuguese leader of this parasitic movement, eager for sensationalism, in the middle of an election campaign, came to mourn the death of that man. At the same time, his phrase about the disservice he says the Pope has done to Christianity remains in our memory. Maria Vieira, a municipal deputy in Cascais, working for Ventura’s party, clarified her position and that of her colleagues, shamefully insulting Francis’ work with words that I don’t dare reproduce here, but which reflect the true attitude of those people. If hypocrisy could run for the Assembly, we know which party would do it.
Today, more than ever, it is urgent to pay homage to the Worker and Freedom, but also to fight to maintain the social justice that has already been achieved, and to achieve more equality, in the name of the truth they want to destroy. In times of increasing darkness, the white smoke we hope to receive will not be limited to the choice of a new person to fill the Vatican post. We hope that Francis’ legacy will perpetuate his Church’s action against the tyrannies and petty vanities that aim to destroy the stones of St. Peter’s temple. With the start of the journey in the name of the Holy Spirit, which we are now embarking on, a new dawn of action also begins. After the well-deserved mourning and honoring the humility of a fighter, we must remain active in the fight against the oligarchies and the powers that be that finance the deconstruction of society, setting our scales by the yardstick of decent work and quality of life, in all its aspects.
On May 1, 2025, our country’s anthem should not call for Luís to be allowed to work. We cannot allow election campaigns solely based on songs that have gone viral in the media. We cannot allow a succession of muscular acts to pass unscathed or suppress serious accusations that have been raised and not clarified.
The people who need to work make our country and world better. With Francisco’s values, April’s ideals, and May’s certainty, we are building a true future for everyone in the name of Franciscus and his faith.

Alexandra Manes is from Flores Island but lives on the island of Terceira in the Azores. She is a regular contributing writer for several Azorean newspapers, a political and cultural activist, and has served in the Azorean Parliament.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, giving the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores a sense of the significant opinions on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL).