Mayor Charlie Hales held a conference call this morning from Rome following his audience with Pope Francis, praising the pope's friendly style and asserting there was "only a smidgen of pomp and circumstance."

"He is quite approachable," Hales said during the Wednesday morning conference call. "His affect is very warm and he seems awfully accessible."

Pope Francis last month issued an encyclical on climate change, and invited Hales and about 60 other mayors from around the globe to meet with him at the Vatican to discuss the climate and human trafficking. Hales was included in the invitation thanks to his involvement in the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

Hales said the group of mayors sat "classroom style" and listened to the pope speak in Spanish, his native language while the speech was simultaneously translated through earpieces. The pope is from Argentina.

He called from Rome at 10:30 am, which meant it was 7:30 pm there, and said the meeting had ended right before he made the call. He said he plans to call for some changes when he returns home to Portland, including working toward installing more solar panels on the city's public buildings and having a discussion on whether the city should be investing at all in fossil fuels.

"In the wake of the Pembina decision I think we ought to have that discussion," he said.

He spoke about making Portland more bike-friendly and continuing to improve access to public transportation saying "we might have to raise taxes and spend money" to get there.

"I've always said Portland should try and be the best European city in America," he said.