Over the objections of senior Roman Catholic leaders and some area residents, a McDonald’s opened last week just outside Vatican City, within eyeshot of St. Peter’s Square.

The fast-food chain’s plan to open a restaurant in a Vatican-owned building was met with derision when it was announced in October.

The restaurant, at the corner of Borgo Pio and Via del Mascherino, is in the Roman district of Borgo, which leads to Vatican City. According to The Guardian, the Committee for the Protection of Borgo, a group of residents, called it a “decisive blow on an already wounded animal,” referring to the trinket-hawking vendors already proliferating in the area.

In an interview with La Repubblica in October, Cardinal Elio Sgreccia called the restaurant’s arrival a “disgrace,” and said the space should have been used to help the needy.