The Pope and the Mayor

The Great Jubilee of the year 2000 was an event that the city has never forgotten. Celebrations for the Jubilee were announced by Pope John Paul in his 1994 Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente in which he called for a three-year preparation period leading up to the opening of the Great Jubilee in December 1999. Protestant Churches and the Orthodox were invited to celebrate the Jubilee together with the Catholics as a sign of ecumenical dialogue. Special Jubilees were invoked for various groups within the Church, such as children, athletes, politicians, and actors. World Youth Day, celebrated in Rome in August, brought over two million young people together. The Jubilee was closed by the Pope on January 6, 2001, with the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter's and the promulgation of the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte. The stage for celebrations of course was the very city of Rome, which estimates show hosted some 25 million pilgrims. It was thoroughly scrubbed, laundered, painted and restored for the occasion.
One of the men who worked the hardest together with the Pope to make the Jubilee come true, was the then Mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli. He had become the first Mayor of Rome to be elected directly by the citizens in 1993, and was re-elected in 1997, with the widest popular vote ever registered in city elections. During this latter mandate, he was appointed as Special Commissioner for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.
Francesco Rutelli is currently a member of the Italian Senate, and since 2009 founder and President of the political movement called "Alleanza Per l'Italia". Linda Bordoni asked him for his memories of Pope John Paul II…