In a meeting with the President and Prime Minister of Greece, Katerina Sakelaropul and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during their first engagement in the country, Pope Francis said that there is a “democracy setback” in Europe and the rest of the world, caused mainly by the populism and “distance from institutions”.
“One cannot fail to note with concern how today, not just on the European continent, there is a setback in democracy,” said the pope, recalling that Greece is the birthplace of the democratic system. “Authoritarianism is swift [diligente], and the easy promises proposed by populism are attractive,” he added.
According to the pontiff, “in societies, concerned with security and numbed by consumerism, tiredness and malaise lead to a kind of democratic skepticism”, a distrust caused by “distance from institutions, fear of loss of identity and bureaucracy”. Francisco called for a move “from partisanship to participation, from a mere commitment to support a faction to an active involvement in the promotion of all”.
The Catholic Church leader also criticized the “nationalistic selfishness”, which makes Europe, “instead of being the engine of solidarity, seems at times blocked and uncoordinated”. “If previously ideological contrasts prevented the construction of bridges between the east and west of the continent, today the issue of migration has also opened gaps between the south and the north”, explained Francisco, who ended the speech by hailing Athens as a “glorious city” and remembering that the Gospels were written in Greek, an “immortal language”.
The trip to Greece is the last stage of the 35th Apostolic Journey of the pontificate of Francis, which turns nine in 2022. Before arriving in the country, the Pope traveled to Cyprus, where he visited religious communities and addressed the issue of immigration.
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