De Blasio Hopes Pope’s Message on Inequality Will Magnify His Own

Mayor Bill de Blasio believes he has found the perfect messenger to advance his administration’s cause: the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

As he prepares to welcome Pope Francis to New York City, the mayor is determined to harness the influence and celebrity of a religious leader whose populism, he believes, has much in common with his own goals of combating inequality and injustice.