With New York City at the center of global issues such as the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants and the college protests about the Israel-Hamas war, Mayor Eric Adams arrived in Rome on Friday ready to discuss peace.
During a three-day trip, the mayor is expected to meet with Pope Francis and attend the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, an event that will bring together Nobel Laureates, athletes and assorted celebrities as a step toward combating the “many forms of violence and wars” around the world.
Earlier this week, the mayor said: “I think that His Holiness has a role right now as we all are trying to deal with the global conflicts.”
The mayor has made his Christian faith a centerpiece of his politics. He has said that God told him three decades ago the exact date that he would become mayor, and that he did not believe in the separation of church and state. The trip to see Pope Francis is “a very special moment for me as being a Christian,” Mr. Adams said Tuesday.
“If you told me someone in this city or country who’s a Christian, and they were allowed to go see the Pope and they’re saying no, they need their head examined,” the mayor said. “I’m going to see the Pope.”
Mr. Adams’s schedule in Rome on Friday, as it often is in New York City, is filled with meetings and events, many of which are closed to the media.
