ROME: Rome’s Mayor Roberto Gualtieri on Wednesday attended an iftar at the Great Mosque in Italy’s capital, the first time such a visit had taken place in 10 years.
It is the largest Islamic place of worship in the country, and was built thanks to a donation from the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.
Gualtieri was welcomed by Naim Nasrallah, president of the Islamic Cultural Center of Rome, and members of the city’s Muslim community.
He attended prayers and then joined the iftar with city councillors and commissioners from all parties.
Gualtieri said the City Council “highly values the active presence of the Islamic Cultural Center, and the huge contribution citizens of the Islamic faith offer every day to the city of Rome. Our city is proud to be open, multicultural and multireligious.”
Nasrallah said: “We are happy to host the mayor in this place of spirituality, culture and architectural beauty.”
He added: “After a long time, we see restored the valued tradition of having the mayor of Rome here with us during the holy month of Ramadan to share our iftar.
“Today, we reaffirm the great friendship and cooperation binding the Islamic Cultural Center and the City Council of Rome, and the Islamic community and all the citizens of Rome.”
In 2013, Giovanni Alemanno, a member of the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) center-right party, was the last mayor of Rome to attend an iftar at the Great Mosque.
Neither of his next two successors, Ignazio Marino of the Democratic Party and Virginia Raggi of the Five Star Movement, attended any event organized by the Islamic Cultural Center every year for Ramadan.
Since his election as mayor last year, Gualtieri has established a close relationship with Rome’s Islamic communities.
