Pope Francis tells Rome mayor to 'welcome and integrate' migrants

“Rome, over its nearly 2,800 years of history, 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,” the pope told Mayor Virginia Raggi in his prepared address, “without canceling their legitimate differences, without humiliating or crushing their respective peculiar characteristics and identity.”

“This city has welcomed students and pilgrims, tourists, refugees and migrants from every region of Italy and from many countries of the world,” he said.

In order to live up to its history, Francis said, Rome must be “a beacon of civilization and a teacher of welcome,” holding onto the wisdom “that is manifested in the ability to integrate and to make everyone feel a full participant in a common destiny.”

Pope Francis has made the immigration issue a hallmark of his 6-year papacy, beginning with a 2013 visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa and continuing up to the present day.