Mayor Eric Adams raises antisemitism crisis in meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican
VATICAN CITY — Hizzoner just met hizzoliness.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams had an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican Saturday morning, the highlight of Adams’ sojourn to Rome.
Adams, 63, and the Pope, 87, were pictured smiling and shaking hands in exclusive photos obtained by The Post.
“I spoke with him about the conflicts that we are seeing globally playing out… in parts of Africa, what we are seeing playing out in Haiti, the Middle East,” Adams said at the meeting at an evening press conference.
“I talked about the program and the initiative that is in place with the owner of the Patriots. What he’s doing around ending antisemitism, I think is so important,” he added, referring to Robert Kraft.
Adams also asked for the Pontiff to pray for humanity as it navigates the conflicts that are happening across the world.
“He responded affirmatively and said ‘Eric, pray for me as well.’` That just shows the humanity inside him as a person,” Adams said of the Pope’s response.
Adams previously clarified that he is not a practicing Catholic, but said that the visit to the Vatican was “a very important moment…for a spiritual outlet.”
“Clearly, there’s something special about Pope Francis just down to his interactions with you. And it was clear how attentive he was,” the mayor said on Saturday night.
“Clearly, being a pope you’re not going to solve every problem that is brought in front of you. But it starts with actually hearing people and listening to people and that’s what I saw not only when he communicated with me, but when he communicated with others.”
Adams visited the Vatican City alongside Nobel Laureates and other participants in the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, including Graça Machel Mandela, the widow of Nelson Mandela.
“I think it is crucial for what he’s doing about having a second meeting on the human fraternity is so important, because as young people will say, he’s a credible messenger, he’s an influencer,” Adams had said of His Holiness ahead of the visit.
After his papal audience, Adams palled around with Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri at the Piazza di San Cosimato, where they painted over graffiti and toured a renovated garden used by a local youth nonprofit.
“Young people are so far away from nature. But these children have become inspired. they’re naming themselves after the plants. So they’re watching the plants grow,” Adams marveled at the project.
“I’d like to say New York City is the Rome of America,” he then boasted — riffing on one of his popular catchphrases.
On Saturday afternoon, Adams was a keynote speaker at a roundtable on public administration in urban communities at the Palazzo Senatorio.
“Municipalities cannot stay neutral,” he said of the ongoing housing issues, mental health and climate change challenges facing the world.
One of the other speakers, Italian sociologist Mauro Magatti said the Pope had given a brief speech that morning about how elected officials needed to step up and take greater responsibility, given that they were local leaders.
The speech also had notable anti-war undertones.
Adams will attend the forum’s closing ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City Saturday night.
The event is closed to the press.
On Sunday afternoon, Adams is slated to visit an asylum seeker shelter, where he said he is eager to learn about how Italy is handling the global crisis.