This morning, the Holy Father, Pope Francis paid a visit to the Campidoglio. Upon his arrival, in the Sixtus IV area, he was welcomed by the Mayor, Virginia Raggi to the sound of trumpets played by the Faithful of Vitorchiano.
After having reached the first floor of the Senatorial Palace, in the Clock Room, the Pope met briefly with the Mayor's family. Then, His Holiness entered into the Mayor's Study and made his way out onto the balcony which overlooks the Roman Forum. The Holy Father then spent time with the Mayor in private conversation and, afterwards, they went together to the Tapestry Hall where the Vice-Mayor, the Presidents of the Council Groups and the Capitoline Managers were gathered. The Pope presented each of them with a copy of the book: Rethinking the future of relationships, which contains a series of speeches about Europe. Then, the Holy Father greeted the Capitoline Assessors and the Presidents of the Municipalities inside the Flag Room and signed the Capitoline Guestbook.
Then, the Pope and the Mayor of Rome entered the Juilio Cesare Hall. Following a few words of introduction offered by Mayor Raggi, the Holy Father shared his speech with the Communal Administration.
When he was finished, the Mayor thanked the Pope and announced the establishment of two scholarships within the cycle of studies in Peace Sciences which are being set up by the Holy Father at the Pontifical Lateran University and the dedication of the Sala della Piccola Protomoteca to Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si'. There followed an exchange of gifts: in remembrance of his visit, the Holy Father presented a mosaic that reproduces the Colosseum and a medal of his Pontificate.
At 11:20am, Pope Francis and Mayor Raggi appeared on the Loggia of the Senatorial Palace. Then, Pope Francis greeted the citizens who were gathered in Campidoglio Square.
Afterwards, inside the Protomoteca Room, the Pope greeted a representative group of the employees of the Municipality together with their family members. At 11:50am, after having arrived at the Portico del Vignola, the Pope bid farewell to the Mayor and returned to the Vatican.
Madam Mayor,
Ladies and Gentlemen Councillors of the Comune of Rome,
Illustrious Authorities,
Dear friends!
I thank Madam Mayor for her gracious invitation and for the kind words that she has offered. My cordial greetings also extend to you, the Councillors of the Comune, to the Representatives of Government, to other Authorities who are present and to all the citizens of Rome.
For some time, I have wanted to come to the Campidoglio to meet you and to bring you my personal thanks for the collaboration given by the city authorities to those of the Holy See on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, as well as for the celebration of other ecclesial events. In fact, for their orderly execution and their success they depend on your availability and your qualified work: all of you, administrators of this City which is a witness to millennia of history and which, having welcoming Christianity, has become over the centuries the centre of Catholicism.
Rome is the home of an original conception of law, modelled on the practical wisdom of its people and through which it illuminated the world with its principles and institutions. Rome is the city that has recognized the value and beauty of philosophy, art and in general of the culture produced by ancient Ellade and has accepted it and integrated it to the point that the civilization that arose from it has rightly been called Greco-Roman. At the same time, by a coincidence that it is difficult not to call enticing, here the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul crowned their mission with martyrdom, and their blood. Combined with that of many other witnesses, they became the seed of new generations of Christians. They contributed to giving the city a new face, which, despite the tangle of alternating historical vicissitudes, each with its own dramas, lights and shadows, still shines today with the wealth of monuments, works of art, churches and palaces, all placed in an inimitable way on the seven hills, of which this is the first.
Over its nearly 2,800 years of history, Rome has been able to welcome and integrate different populations and people from all over the world, belonging to the most varied social and economic categories, without canceling their legitimate differences, without humiliating or crushing their respective unique characteristics and identity. Rather, she provided each of them with fertile ground, that humus that is suited to bring out the best in each person and to giving shape - in mutual dialogue - to new identities.
This city has welcomed students and pilgrims, tourists, refugees and migrants from every region of Italy and from many countries of the world. It has become a pole of attraction and a pivot. A hinge between the continental north and the Mediterranean world, between the Latin and the Germanic civilizations, between the prerogatives and the powers reserved to the civil powers and those proper to the spiritual power. Indeed, it can be affirmed that, thanks to the strength of the Gospel words, that provident distinction was inaugurated here, in mutual respect and collaboration for the good of all, between civil and religious authority, which better conforms to the dignity of the human person and offers spaces of freedom and participation.
Rome has therefore become a destination and symbol for all those who, recognizing it as the capital of Italy and the centre of Catholicism, have set out towards it to admire its monuments and traces of the past, to venerate the memories of the Martyrs, to celebrate the main feasts of the liturgical year and the great Jubilee pilgrimages, but also to lend its services to the institutions of the Italian nation or of the Holy See.
Therefore, in a certain sense, Rome obliges temporal and spiritual power to dialogue constantly, to collaborate on a stable basis in mutual respect; and it also requires being creative, both in the daily weaving of good relationships, and in dealing with the many problems, which the management of such an immense inheritance necessarily carries with it.
The Eternal City is like a huge treasure chest of spiritual, historical-artistic and institutional treasures, and at the same time it is the place inhabited by about three million people who work, study, pray, meet and carry on their personal and family stories, a people who together are the honour and the effort of every administrator, of anyone who works for the common good of the city.
It is a delicate organism, which needs humble and assiduous care and creative courage to maintain order and livability, so that so much splendour is not degraded, but in order that to the accumulation of past glories we can add the contribution of new generations, their specific genius, their initiatives and their good plans.
The Campidoglio, together with Michelangelo's Dome and the Colosseum - which from here you can see - are in a sense the emblems and the synthesis of Rome. In fact, all these vestiges tell us that Rome has a universal vocation; she is the bearer of a mission and an ideal suitable for crossing mountains and seas and to be told to everyone, near and far, to any people who belong, whatever language they speak and whatever the color of their skin. As the See of the Successor of Saint Peter, it is a spiritual reference point for the whole Catholic world. Therefore it is well explained that the Agreement between Italy and the Holy See on the Concordat - of which this year celebrates its 35th anniversary - affirms that the Italian Republic recognizes the particular significance that Rome, episcopal see of the Supreme Pontiff, has for catholicity (Article 2 § 4).
This peculiar historical, cultural and institutional identity of Rome requires that the Capitoline Administration be able to govern this complex reality with appropriate regulatory tools and a fair amount of resources.
Even more decisive however, is the necessity that Rome remains up to its tasks and its history, that it knows even in the changed circumstances of today how to be a beacon of civilization and a teacher of welcome which does not lose the wisdom that is manifested in the ability to integrate and to make everyone feel that they are full participants in a common destiny.
The Church in Rome wants to help all Romans to rediscover the sense of belonging to such a community and, thanks to the network of its parishes, schools and charitable institutions, as well as to the wide and commendable commitment of volunteering, it collaborates with the civilian powers and all citizens to help this city keep its most noble face, its feelings of Christian love and of civic sense.
Rome demands and deserves the active, wise, generous collaboration of all; she deserves that both private citizens such as social forces and public institutions, together with the Catholic Church and other religious communities, all place themselves at the service of the good of the city and of the people who live here, especially those who for whatever reason are on the margins, almost discarded and forgotten or those that experience the suffering of illness, abandonment or loneliness.
Forty-five years have passed since the convention which had the title: The responsibilities of Christians in the face of expectations of charity and justice in the Diocese of Rome, better known as the Convention on the evils of Rome. It undertook to translate the indications of the Second Vatican Council into practice and enabled the real conditions of the urban peripheries, where masses of immigrants from other parts of Italy had arrived, to be faced with greater awareness. Today those and other suburbs have seen the arrival, from many countries, of numerous migrants who have fled wars and poverty, who seek to rebuild their existence in conditions of security and dignified life.
Rome, a hospitable city, is called to face this epochal challenge in the wake of its noble history; to use its energies to welcome and integrate, to transform tensions and problems into opportunities for meeting and for growth. Rome, fertilized by the blood of the Martyrs, knows how to draw from its culture, shaped by faith in Christ, the resources of creativity and charity necessary to overcome the fears that risk blocking the initiatives and possible paths. These could make the city flourish, unite and create opportunities for development, both civic and cultural, as well as economic and social. Rome is a city of bridges, never walls!
Do not fear goodness and charity! They are creative and they generate a peaceful society, able to multiply forces, to tackle problems with seriousness and with less anxiety, with greater dignity and respect for each other and to open up new opportunities for development.
The Holy See wishes to collaborate ever more and better for the good of the city, at the service of all, especially the poor and the most disadvantaged, for the culture of encounter and for an integral ecology. It encourages all its institutions and structures, as well as all the people and communities that refer to it, to actively engage in witnessing to the efficacy and attractiveness of a faith that becomes work, initiative and creativity at the service of goodness.
I therefore express best wishes for everyone to feel fully involved in achieving this goal, to confirm -with the clarity of ideas and the strength of daily witness - the best traditions of Rome and its mission, so that all this will better favour a moral and spiritual revival of the city.
Madam Mayor, dear friends, at the end of my speech, I want to entrust each of you, your work and the good intentions that enliven you, to the protection of Mary Salus Populi Romani and the patron saints Peter and Paul. Together, may we strive to be of service to this beloved City, in which the Lord has called me to carry out my episcopal ministry. Upon each of you I cordially invoke the abundance of divine blessings and assure you of a remembrance in my prayer. And you too, pray for me and if any of you don't pray, at least think well of me! Thank you very much!
Original text in Italian
Dear Romans, good morning!
As your Bishop, I usually meet you in Saint Peter's, in Saint John's (Lateran) or in the parishes ... Today I am able to offer you a word and a greeting from the Capitol, the cradle of this City and the beating heart of its administrative and civil life. Thank you for your presence and thank you for the love you have for the Successor of Peter!
According to the well-known expression attributed to Saint Ignatius of Antioch, the Church in Rome presides in charity (Letter to the Romans, Preface). Therefore, it is the duty of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, but also of all the Christians of Rome, to work concretely to keep the face of this Church always luminous, reflecting the light of Christ who renews our hearts.
In the heart of the Pope there are also those who do not share our faith, they are all our brothers and sisters: to all of them, I wish to express my spiritual closeness, and my encouragement to be craftsmen of fraternity and solidarity every day. This is the task of a citizen: to be a craftsman of fraternity and solidarity. Like so many people around the world, you too, citizens of Rome, are concerned about the well-being and education of your children; you care about the future of the planet, and the kind of world we will leave for future generations. But today, and every day, I would like to ask each of you, according to your abilities, to care for each other, to stay close to each other, to respect each other. Thus you will continue to embody in yourself the most beautiful values of this city: that is, a united community that lives in harmony, that acts not only for justice, but in a spirit of justice.
Thank you again for this meeting! I ask the Lord to fill you with his graces and his blessings. And I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you and good bye!
Original text in Italian
Dear friends,
At the conclusion of my visit to the Campidoglio, I am pleased to greet those of you who are, in a certain sense, the skeleton of the municipal organization. I thank you for your welcome and I am grateful to you for all that you have done to prepare for this day.
Most of the work you do does not make the news. None of you makes the news but you do things that support the news. Behind the scenes, your daily commitment makes possible the ordinary activity of the Municipality in favour of the citizens and the many visitors who come to Rome every day. Through your work, you strive to meet the legitimate needs of Roman families, which in many ways depend on your concern: be aware of so much responsibility! You are field workers, officials, employees in various offices and many departments of the public administration, cleaners, maintenance and security personnel. Thanks for everything you do!
Your silent and faithful work contributes not only to the improvement of the city, but it also has great significance for you personally, because the way we work expresses our dignity and the kind of people we are.
I encourage you to continue your activity in the service of the City of Rome, its inhabitants, tourists and pilgrims with generosity and trust. I will pray for you and your families; and I ask everyone to remember to pray a little for me. God bless you all. Thank you.
Original text in Italian
After having reached the first floor of the Senatorial Palace, in the Clock Room, the Pope met briefly with the Mayor's family. Then, His Holiness entered into the Mayor's Study and made his way out onto the balcony which overlooks the Roman Forum. The Holy Father then spent time with the Mayor in private conversation and, afterwards, they went together to the Tapestry Hall where the Vice-Mayor, the Presidents of the Council Groups and the Capitoline Managers were gathered. The Pope presented each of them with a copy of the book: Rethinking the future of relationships, which contains a series of speeches about Europe. Then, the Holy Father greeted the Capitoline Assessors and the Presidents of the Municipalities inside the Flag Room and signed the Capitoline Guestbook.
Then, the Pope and the Mayor of Rome entered the Juilio Cesare Hall. Following a few words of introduction offered by Mayor Raggi, the Holy Father shared his speech with the Communal Administration.
When he was finished, the Mayor thanked the Pope and announced the establishment of two scholarships within the cycle of studies in Peace Sciences which are being set up by the Holy Father at the Pontifical Lateran University and the dedication of the Sala della Piccola Protomoteca to Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si'. There followed an exchange of gifts: in remembrance of his visit, the Holy Father presented a mosaic that reproduces the Colosseum and a medal of his Pontificate.
At 11:20am, Pope Francis and Mayor Raggi appeared on the Loggia of the Senatorial Palace. Then, Pope Francis greeted the citizens who were gathered in Campidoglio Square.
Afterwards, inside the Protomoteca Room, the Pope greeted a representative group of the employees of the Municipality together with their family members. At 11:50am, after having arrived at the Portico del Vignola, the Pope bid farewell to the Mayor and returned to the Vatican.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to the Capitoline Administrators
Madam Mayor,
Ladies and Gentlemen Councillors of the Comune of Rome,
Illustrious Authorities,
Dear friends!
I thank Madam Mayor for her gracious invitation and for the kind words that she has offered. My cordial greetings also extend to you, the Councillors of the Comune, to the Representatives of Government, to other Authorities who are present and to all the citizens of Rome.
For some time, I have wanted to come to the Campidoglio to meet you and to bring you my personal thanks for the collaboration given by the city authorities to those of the Holy See on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, as well as for the celebration of other ecclesial events. In fact, for their orderly execution and their success they depend on your availability and your qualified work: all of you, administrators of this City which is a witness to millennia of history and which, having welcoming Christianity, has become over the centuries the centre of Catholicism.
Rome is the home of an original conception of law, modelled on the practical wisdom of its people and through which it illuminated the world with its principles and institutions. Rome is the city that has recognized the value and beauty of philosophy, art and in general of the culture produced by ancient Ellade and has accepted it and integrated it to the point that the civilization that arose from it has rightly been called Greco-Roman. At the same time, by a coincidence that it is difficult not to call enticing, here the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul crowned their mission with martyrdom, and their blood. Combined with that of many other witnesses, they became the seed of new generations of Christians. They contributed to giving the city a new face, which, despite the tangle of alternating historical vicissitudes, each with its own dramas, lights and shadows, still shines today with the wealth of monuments, works of art, churches and palaces, all placed in an inimitable way on the seven hills, of which this is the first.
Over its nearly 2,800 years of history, Rome has been able to welcome and integrate different populations and people from all over the world, belonging to the most varied social and economic categories, without canceling their legitimate differences, without humiliating or crushing their respective unique characteristics and identity. Rather, she provided each of them with fertile ground, that humus that is suited to bring out the best in each person and to giving shape - in mutual dialogue - to new identities.
This city has welcomed students and pilgrims, tourists, refugees and migrants from every region of Italy and from many countries of the world. It has become a pole of attraction and a pivot. A hinge between the continental north and the Mediterranean world, between the Latin and the Germanic civilizations, between the prerogatives and the powers reserved to the civil powers and those proper to the spiritual power. Indeed, it can be affirmed that, thanks to the strength of the Gospel words, that provident distinction was inaugurated here, in mutual respect and collaboration for the good of all, between civil and religious authority, which better conforms to the dignity of the human person and offers spaces of freedom and participation.
Rome has therefore become a destination and symbol for all those who, recognizing it as the capital of Italy and the centre of Catholicism, have set out towards it to admire its monuments and traces of the past, to venerate the memories of the Martyrs, to celebrate the main feasts of the liturgical year and the great Jubilee pilgrimages, but also to lend its services to the institutions of the Italian nation or of the Holy See.
Therefore, in a certain sense, Rome obliges temporal and spiritual power to dialogue constantly, to collaborate on a stable basis in mutual respect; and it also requires being creative, both in the daily weaving of good relationships, and in dealing with the many problems, which the management of such an immense inheritance necessarily carries with it.
The Eternal City is like a huge treasure chest of spiritual, historical-artistic and institutional treasures, and at the same time it is the place inhabited by about three million people who work, study, pray, meet and carry on their personal and family stories, a people who together are the honour and the effort of every administrator, of anyone who works for the common good of the city.
It is a delicate organism, which needs humble and assiduous care and creative courage to maintain order and livability, so that so much splendour is not degraded, but in order that to the accumulation of past glories we can add the contribution of new generations, their specific genius, their initiatives and their good plans.
The Campidoglio, together with Michelangelo's Dome and the Colosseum - which from here you can see - are in a sense the emblems and the synthesis of Rome. In fact, all these vestiges tell us that Rome has a universal vocation; she is the bearer of a mission and an ideal suitable for crossing mountains and seas and to be told to everyone, near and far, to any people who belong, whatever language they speak and whatever the color of their skin. As the See of the Successor of Saint Peter, it is a spiritual reference point for the whole Catholic world. Therefore it is well explained that the Agreement between Italy and the Holy See on the Concordat - of which this year celebrates its 35th anniversary - affirms that the Italian Republic recognizes the particular significance that Rome, episcopal see of the Supreme Pontiff, has for catholicity (Article 2 § 4).
This peculiar historical, cultural and institutional identity of Rome requires that the Capitoline Administration be able to govern this complex reality with appropriate regulatory tools and a fair amount of resources.
Even more decisive however, is the necessity that Rome remains up to its tasks and its history, that it knows even in the changed circumstances of today how to be a beacon of civilization and a teacher of welcome which does not lose the wisdom that is manifested in the ability to integrate and to make everyone feel that they are full participants in a common destiny.
The Church in Rome wants to help all Romans to rediscover the sense of belonging to such a community and, thanks to the network of its parishes, schools and charitable institutions, as well as to the wide and commendable commitment of volunteering, it collaborates with the civilian powers and all citizens to help this city keep its most noble face, its feelings of Christian love and of civic sense.
Rome demands and deserves the active, wise, generous collaboration of all; she deserves that both private citizens such as social forces and public institutions, together with the Catholic Church and other religious communities, all place themselves at the service of the good of the city and of the people who live here, especially those who for whatever reason are on the margins, almost discarded and forgotten or those that experience the suffering of illness, abandonment or loneliness.
Forty-five years have passed since the convention which had the title: The responsibilities of Christians in the face of expectations of charity and justice in the Diocese of Rome, better known as the Convention on the evils of Rome. It undertook to translate the indications of the Second Vatican Council into practice and enabled the real conditions of the urban peripheries, where masses of immigrants from other parts of Italy had arrived, to be faced with greater awareness. Today those and other suburbs have seen the arrival, from many countries, of numerous migrants who have fled wars and poverty, who seek to rebuild their existence in conditions of security and dignified life.
Rome, a hospitable city, is called to face this epochal challenge in the wake of its noble history; to use its energies to welcome and integrate, to transform tensions and problems into opportunities for meeting and for growth. Rome, fertilized by the blood of the Martyrs, knows how to draw from its culture, shaped by faith in Christ, the resources of creativity and charity necessary to overcome the fears that risk blocking the initiatives and possible paths. These could make the city flourish, unite and create opportunities for development, both civic and cultural, as well as economic and social. Rome is a city of bridges, never walls!
Do not fear goodness and charity! They are creative and they generate a peaceful society, able to multiply forces, to tackle problems with seriousness and with less anxiety, with greater dignity and respect for each other and to open up new opportunities for development.
The Holy See wishes to collaborate ever more and better for the good of the city, at the service of all, especially the poor and the most disadvantaged, for the culture of encounter and for an integral ecology. It encourages all its institutions and structures, as well as all the people and communities that refer to it, to actively engage in witnessing to the efficacy and attractiveness of a faith that becomes work, initiative and creativity at the service of goodness.
I therefore express best wishes for everyone to feel fully involved in achieving this goal, to confirm -with the clarity of ideas and the strength of daily witness - the best traditions of Rome and its mission, so that all this will better favour a moral and spiritual revival of the city.
Madam Mayor, dear friends, at the end of my speech, I want to entrust each of you, your work and the good intentions that enliven you, to the protection of Mary Salus Populi Romani and the patron saints Peter and Paul. Together, may we strive to be of service to this beloved City, in which the Lord has called me to carry out my episcopal ministry. Upon each of you I cordially invoke the abundance of divine blessings and assure you of a remembrance in my prayer. And you too, pray for me and if any of you don't pray, at least think well of me! Thank you very much!
Original text in Italian
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
to the citizens of Rome
Dear Romans, good morning!
As your Bishop, I usually meet you in Saint Peter's, in Saint John's (Lateran) or in the parishes ... Today I am able to offer you a word and a greeting from the Capitol, the cradle of this City and the beating heart of its administrative and civil life. Thank you for your presence and thank you for the love you have for the Successor of Peter!
According to the well-known expression attributed to Saint Ignatius of Antioch, the Church in Rome presides in charity (Letter to the Romans, Preface). Therefore, it is the duty of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, but also of all the Christians of Rome, to work concretely to keep the face of this Church always luminous, reflecting the light of Christ who renews our hearts.
In the heart of the Pope there are also those who do not share our faith, they are all our brothers and sisters: to all of them, I wish to express my spiritual closeness, and my encouragement to be craftsmen of fraternity and solidarity every day. This is the task of a citizen: to be a craftsman of fraternity and solidarity. Like so many people around the world, you too, citizens of Rome, are concerned about the well-being and education of your children; you care about the future of the planet, and the kind of world we will leave for future generations. But today, and every day, I would like to ask each of you, according to your abilities, to care for each other, to stay close to each other, to respect each other. Thus you will continue to embody in yourself the most beautiful values of this city: that is, a united community that lives in harmony, that acts not only for justice, but in a spirit of justice.
Thank you again for this meeting! I ask the Lord to fill you with his graces and his blessings. And I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you and good bye!
Original text in Italian
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for Staff of the Capitoline and their families
Dear friends,
At the conclusion of my visit to the Campidoglio, I am pleased to greet those of you who are, in a certain sense, the skeleton of the municipal organization. I thank you for your welcome and I am grateful to you for all that you have done to prepare for this day.
Most of the work you do does not make the news. None of you makes the news but you do things that support the news. Behind the scenes, your daily commitment makes possible the ordinary activity of the Municipality in favour of the citizens and the many visitors who come to Rome every day. Through your work, you strive to meet the legitimate needs of Roman families, which in many ways depend on your concern: be aware of so much responsibility! You are field workers, officials, employees in various offices and many departments of the public administration, cleaners, maintenance and security personnel. Thanks for everything you do!
Your silent and faithful work contributes not only to the improvement of the city, but it also has great significance for you personally, because the way we work expresses our dignity and the kind of people we are.
I encourage you to continue your activity in the service of the City of Rome, its inhabitants, tourists and pilgrims with generosity and trust. I will pray for you and your families; and I ask everyone to remember to pray a little for me. God bless you all. Thank you.
Original text in Italian
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