Pope Francis received Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, on January 4, just four days after the Pope, in his year-end homily - with Gualtieri in attendance - preached that the city’s historic center “needs to correspond to simple decorum and the normal functionality of places and situations in ordinary, everyday life.”
After the audience, Gualtieri said that he updated the Pope on construction projects that are making the city more accessible.
He added, “Rome loves its bishop, who best represents the vocation to solidarity, brotherhood, and peace.”