WHILE POPE FRANCIS appears pretty magnanimous with most people he meets, it seems there are a few people he isn’t so keen on.
Following his tour of the United States and Cuba, the Pontiff has had some rather stern words for the mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino.
The mayor made an appearance on the final leg of his tour in the United States.
When asked on the flight home if he had personally invited him, the Holy Father responded:
I didn’t invite the mayor. Is that clear? I asked the organisers and they didn’t invite him either.
Speaking about the presence of the mayor on the journey, he said, “He pretends to be Catholic, it came on him all of a sudden. It doesn’t happen like that.”
Mayor Marino is noted for his left-leaning, liberal out look, with includes support for euthanasia and same-sex marriage.
Marino, whose popularity has been suffering in his home city of Rome, has said that he was invited to attend the event by the city of Philadelphia.
According to The Guardian, a radio prankster made a phone call to the Vatican pretending to be the Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi.
Being asked about the trip, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, head of the pontifical council for the family and organiser of the Philadelphia event, said:
He wanted to take advantage of it and this really upset the Number One.
- Reporting from AFP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say