Pope Benedict XVI on Monday made a historic visit to Rome city hall - the third pontiff ever to have done so after Paul VI and John Paul II.
In an extraordinary session in the Julius Caesar hall, Benedict became the second pope ever to have addressed the city council and assembly, eleven years after a speech by John Paul II.
In his address, Benedict - who is also bishop of Rome - called on the city to reject all forms of racism but also require its citizens to respect the law.
He said the city had become ''a multiethnic and multireligious metropolis'' where integration is ''sometimes arduous and complex''.
''I hope that Rome will find the strength to exact respect for the rules of civil cohabitation from everyone and to reject all forms of intolerance and discrimination,'' he said.
The pope acknowledged recent ''episodes of violence'' in the capital, referring to a string of rapes allegedly committed by immigrants which have resulted in a number of vigilante 'reprisals'.
Benedict said such acts of violence were born from ''spiritual poverty'' and said he hoped families and young people could reckon on a ''better future''.
The pope also noted the effects of the global economic crisis on the capital, saying that unemployment had led to families having difficulty in paying rent and mortgages and calling on individuals and institutions to redouble efforts to help those living in poverty.
Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said the pope's visit was ''a historic day for us all'' and said the council would institute an Observatory for Religious Freedom as well as a youth centre for troubled teenagers bearing the pope's name to mark the occasion.
During his visit to the city hall on Rome's Capitoline Hill, the pope stepped onto the balcony of the mayor's private office which overlooks the Roman Forum with Alemanno and the city's archaeology chief, Umberto Broccoli, but his view of the ancient ruins was hindered by strong winds, as a piece of his tunic repeatedly flapped in his face.
After addressing the assembly, the pope greeted members of the public who had turned out in smaller numbers than expected to watch the visit on a maxi-screen set up outside city hall in the historic square designed by Michelangelo.
''After living in Rome for so many years, I've become a little bit Roman,'' he told the crowd.
Following Benedict's visit, Alemanno rejected claims of an underwhelming public turn-out.
''There were actually a lot of people considering it was a Monday morning,'' he said.
