Pope urges Italy to remain open to migrants during first visit to Rome's presidential palace

Pope Leo XIV thanked Italy on Tuesday for its efforts to combat human trafficking but urged the country to remain open to welcoming and integrating migrants as he took part in a pomp-filled meeting with the Italian president.

The pontiff completed the rite of passage for every new pope by travelling across Rome to the Quirinal Palace for a meeting with President Sergio Mattarella.

Escorted by the presidential horse honour guard into the palace courtyard, the pope thanked Italy especially for its welcome of pilgrims during the 2025 Holy Year, which has seen millions of extra tourists pouring into the Eternal City.

Wearing his formal red cape and brocaded stole, the pope thanked Italy for its "generous assistance" to migrants and its efforts to combat human trafficking.

"I encourage you to keep alive your attitude of openness and solidarity," he said.

"At the same time, I wish to emphasise the importance of constructive integration of newcomers into the values and traditions of Italian society, so that the mutual gift realised in this encounter of peoples may truly enrich and benefit all."

It was a reference to Italy’s role at ground zero in Europe's migration debate, given its proximity to North Africa, making it the preferred destination for smuggling operations setting off from Libya and Tunisia.

The right-wing government of Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has made cracking down on illegal migration a priority, including by sending migrants back home or to detention facilities in Albania and prosecuting alleged smugglers.

Meloni and her hard-line Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini were in the front row of the audience, held in a gilded reception room of the palace with palace guards standing at attention.

Italy's hard-line stance on migration often conflicted with the former Pope Francis' call for wealthier countries to welcome, defend and integrate newcomers, a position Pope Leo XIV repeated as recently as last week in his first main teaching document.

Tuesday's encounter was evidence of the close ties between Italy and the Vatican. The location itself underscored the unique and intertwined relationship.

The Quirinale Palace was for centuries the summer residence of popes until 1870, when Rome was captured from the papal states and annexed into the newly unified Kingdom of Italy.

After decades in which popes were essentially prisoners of the Vatican, Italy and the Holy See normalised relations in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, which is still in effect.