Pope Francis and Rome Mayor
Virginia Raggi exchanged a long and warm handshake at a ceremony
marking the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Rome Thursday.
There had been speculation about relations between Rome's new
administration and the Vatican after Raggi, who took office in
June, did not attend the ceremony for the end of the Jubilee
Holy Year of Mercy last month.
The pontiff was blessed with sunny and unseasonably mild
winter weather on Thursday to mark the feast of the Immaculate
Conception as he paid homage to the statue of Mary in Rome's
historic Piazza di Spagna.
Thousands of Italians flocked to the square to greet the
Argentine pope, on his annual pilgrimage to the sculpture of
the Virgin.
The tradition of the papal pilgrimage was revived by pope
John Paul II, a devout follower of the Virgin Mary, more than 20
years ago.
The statue of the Virgin Mary stands on a column in the
northern section of the piazza, just around the corner from
the famed Spanish Steps known to all tourists.
The column was erected by Pope Pius IX in 1854 after he
declared the dogma of her immaculate conception, meaning that
Jesus' mother was conceived without the stain of original
sin.
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