Tensions between Pope Francis and Rome mayor Ignazio Marino first revealed in US and then call to Vatican official

Pope Francis has bestowed gifts on Fidel Castro, shared a laugh with Barack Obama, and frequently hosted his one-time nemesis, the Argentinian president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, at the Vatican.

But when it comes to the mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino, the otherwise cheerful Holy Father evidently just can’t stand the guy.

The first hint of tensions between the Bishop of Rome and Marino, a former surgeon, emerged on the pope’s flight home from Philadelphia.

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The mayor’s presence on the last leg of the pope’s tour of Cuba and the US had aroused curiosity, and when a member of the Vatican press corp asked whether it was true that he had been invited by the pope himself, Francis’s usual smile faded from his face.

“I did not invite Mayor Marino. Is that clear?” he said, dramatically pausing between each word to emphasise his point and not even trying to hide his exasperation.

“I didn’t do it and I asked the organisers and they didn’t invite him either. He came. He professes to be a Catholic and he came spontaneously,” he said.

The Italian press had a field day with the remarks, suggesting it was the ultimate rejection of a deeply unpopular mayor who has been accused of not being up to his job. A headline in the rightwing Roman daily Il Tempo said “The pope excommunicates Marino.”

But the pope’s apparent displeasure with Marino became even more evident when an Italian radio programme, La Zanzara (The Mosquito), made a prank call on Tuesday to a high-ranking Vatican official to inquire about the Marino controversy.

Using a thick Tuscan accent, a man pretending to be the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, asked Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, head of the pontifical council for the family and lead organiser of the Philadelphia event, how things “really went” in the City of Brotherly Love.

“He [Marino] wanted to take advantage of it and this really upset the Number One,” Paglia said, in an apparent reference to the pope.

The fake Renzi responded: “He crashed the party?”

To which Paglia replied: “Of course he crashed the party. The mayor is a good person, but no one invited him, certainly not officially … The pope was furious.”

While the prank provided fodder to critics of the mayor, it also underscored a more serious issue between the Vatican and Rome just a few months ahead of the church’s jubilee year of mercy, which begins on 8 December.

Millions of tourists are expected to descend on Rome to participate in the jubilee, but the special event means that the Vatican will largely be relying on Marino and his bureaucracy to make sure it is not a logistical nightmare for visitors.

In the prank call, Paglia was asked whether there was “trust” in Marino ahead of the jubilee.

“This is the problem,” Paglia said, according to a recording of the prank. “When Marino was there he insisted to see him [again and again] and this annoyed the pope tremendously. Probably Marino needed to be forgiven for something … Maybe he’s looking for help. But with our guy this doesn’t work.”

He then added: “Undoubtedly this is a break in the relationship.”

When the man posing as Renzi suggested that he might serve as a mediator of sorts, Paglia insisted the pontiff would never want the prime minister to get involved. Then, as a final insult, he added a personal observation: that Marino, who wore a customary mayoral sash to his meeting with the pope in Philadelphia, “really looked like a fool”.

In response to the widely-reported prank call, the Vatican said relations between the Holy See and the Italian authorities in connection to the coming jubilee were “serene”. “Statements made by a private conversation - obtained with unacceptable deception - can not express in any way the position of the Holy See,” a spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said.

If Marino is looking for sympathy, he is not likely to find it within his own party. Marino’s management of Rome has come under tough scrutiny, with critics saying that – although he appears to be well intentioned and honest – he is simply not good enough, and that the city is rapidly deteriorating, in part due to his incompetence.

Renzi, who like Marino is a member of the left-leaning Democratic party (PD), has said of the mayor: “If he is able to govern, he should. Otherwise, he should go home.” He has also said of Marino that it was not enough to be “honest, one has to be capable, too”.

The uncomfortable political fact for Renzi is that, if Marino were to resign or otherwise be kicked out of office, it is not clear whether another PD candidate would win. More likely, a member of the populist Five Star Movement would take the seat – a result Renzi and others want to avoid.

What is less clear is why Pope Francis has apparently taken issue with Marino personally. Some observers believe it is related to the mayor’s support of gay marriage. Although same sex unions are not legal in Italy, Marino and some other local officials have participated in “legalising” same-sex unions conducted abroad.