Mayor Eric Adams is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis during an extended weekend visit to Italy this weekend for a global conference, the Mayor’s office announced Monday morning.
Hizzoner will head to Rome on Thursday, May 9, to participate in the second edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity. His trip is being sponsored by the Fondazione Fratelli Tutti, the Italian organization hosting the conference.
First held last year, the World Meeting on Human Fraternity takes place in Rome and Vatican City, and brings together “personalities from all over the world, Nobel laureates, scientists, artists, professors, mayors, doctors, managers, workers and sports champions,” according to the foundation’s website. The goal of the conference is to foster better understanding of major issues affecting the globe, and “how to promote the value of fraternity among people at a time when war and fear dominate” the headlines.
Along with participating in round table discussions on issues such as sustainability, health, social media and food systems, Mayor Adams will also take part in bilateral meetings with other colleagues assembled in Rome this weekend.
During his trip, the mayor will also meet with Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Francis last visited New York in 2015, and Adams — then Brooklyn borough president — was among the dignitaries who greeted the pontiff upon his arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport.
According to the foundation’s website, Pope Francis’ participation in the World Meeting on Human Fraternity will include a meeting reserved for children, “proposing a reflection on the theme of fraternity, which is particularly dear to him.”
The foundation itself is named for Pope Francis’ “Fratelli tutti” encyclical of October 2020. Drawing upon the words of St. Francis of Assisi, the holy father called for greater “social alliance” around the world to break down the walls of inequality and oppression.
