As the city of Rome deals with an increasingly diverse cultural and ethnic community Pope Benedict XVI on Monday urged the people of the city to reject discrimination and treat immigrants fairly.The pope made his remarks on an historic visit to the city's town hall on Capitoline Hill where he met the mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno.
It was the first visit by the German-born pope to the city's seat of government since a visit by the late John Paul II in 1998 and cultural as well as Muslim leaders turned out to greet him on Monday.
"Rome has always been a welcoming city," Benedict said in a speech to the city council.
"Rome has come to be inhabited by people from other nations who belong to different cultures and religious traditions; as a consequence it now has the aspect of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious metropolis in which integration is at times demanding and complex" said the pontiff.
Benedict referred specifically to recent episodes of violence linked to immigrants that have provoked fierce debate in the Italian capital and criticism from city officials.
"Recent episodes of violence, which we all deplore, are an expression of a deeper malaise. They are, I would say, a sign of the real spiritual poverty afflicting the heart of modern man," the pope said.
Benedict said Italy finds itself facing "unprecedented" cultural, social and economic challenges.
During Benedict's visit, Alemanno made a speech in which he announced the construction of a help-centre dedicated to the pontiff. The centre, for disadvantaged young people, is to be built on a plot of land belonging to the city of Rome.
Members of Rome's Muslim community attended the pope's visit to the Capitoline Hill, and said it was signficant.
"The presence of representatives of Rome's Grand Mosque on the Capitoline Hill during the pontiff's visit is of particular significance," said Abdellah Radouane, secretary-general of Italy's Cultural Islamic Centre in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).
"It represents not only an expression of Rome's pluralism, but also the great institutional importance that the mosque has, both at a local and national level, without forgetting that the mosque can act as a bridge between Italy and the Islamic world," Radouane said.
According to 2008 figures released by Catholic charity Caritas, there are about 269,600 foreign residents in Rome, nearly 10 percent of the city's total population of 2.8 million.
Only three other popes have visited Rome's Town Hall - Pope Pius IX in 1870, Paul VI in 1966 and John Paul II in January 1998.
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(Source: AKI)