During a speech at a national Catholic event held at the city’s convention centre, Pope Francis expressed concerns about the current state of global democracy. “Democracy is not in good health in the world today,” the pope stated, without specifying any particular countries.
Pope Francis warned against “ideological temptations and populists,” coinciding with the second round of France’s snap parliamentary vote, where the far-right National Rally (RN) party is expected to secure a significant share of the vote. Drawing an analogy to the German fairytale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, he noted, “Ideologies are seductive. Some people compare them to the Pied Piper of Hamelin: they seduce but lead you to deny yourself.”
In the lead-up to last month’s European Parliament elections, bishops across several countries voiced concerns about the rise of populism and nationalism, particularly with far-right parties already in power in Italy, Hungary, and the Netherlands.
The pope urged people to “move away from polarizations that impoverish” and criticized “self-referential power.” This visit to Trieste, a city of 200,000 inhabitants on the Adriatic Sea bordering Slovenia, marked the third domestic trip within Italy this year for the 87-year-old pontiff, who has faced increasing health issues in recent years.
Since his trip to Marseille in September 2023, the Argentine Jesuit has confined his travels to within Italy. However, he is scheduled to embark on a nearly two-week tour of Asia in September, visiting Indonesia, Singapore, and the islands of Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
Pope Francis arrived in Trieste shortly before 9:00 am (0600 GMT) and planned to meet with various groups from religious and academic circles, as well as migrants and the disabled. His visit was set to conclude with a mass in the city’s main public square before returning to the Vatican in the early afternoon.
