According to the church leader, many people feel excluded from the democratic process and the weakest are left to fend for themselves. The Pope calls on people “not to be fooled by easy solutions.” He also argues that a healthy democracy must move away from ideology and partisanship and instead engage in dialogue.
He calls indifference “the cancer of democracy.” That is why he is concerned that in many countries fewer people are voting than before. The Pope makes the statement on the day the French go to the polls.
Before his visit to Trieste, the pope, now 87, also visited the Italian cities of Venice and Verona in recent months. In September he will fly to Asia for what will be his longest foreign trip as pope. Francis, who is usually wheelchair-bound these days but is otherwise said to be in good health, is visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Singapore, among others.
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