Mayor Eric Adams returns from Italy on Monday after a three-day trip, during which he visited Italian migrant centers, metro systems and met with Pope Francis in Vatican City.

New York Times metro reporter Jeffrey Mays accompanied the mayor on his trip and told “Mornings On 1” anchor Pat Kiernan on Sunday that he believes the mayor learned a lot from the trip.

“What Mayor Adams says he wants to get out of this trip is sort of best practices. He spent a lot of time with the mayor of Rome talking about how they run the city,” Mays said. “I think his role is to say, ‘I want to come, I want to see what other people are doing, and hopefully bring those practices back to the city.’ ”

Adams also spent time with Pope Francis at the Vatican over the weekend. The meeting was closed to the press, but Mays said that Adams seemed genuinely touched by the experience afterward.

“It seemed like a very moving experience for him. The mayor often talks about how his faith informs how he governs the city. He's been very explicit about his faith and how that helps him govern,” Mays said. “He said after meeting the pope, they talked a little bit about some of the global conflicts in the world. He says the pope asked him to pray for him as well.”

While questions linger regarding the cost of the trip to New York City taxpayers, Mays clarified that Pope Francis’ foundation, which sponsored the weekend conference on world peace, paid for the mayor in part.

“He also has staff members here with him, a photographer, some security detail. I'm not clear yet if those costs are being borne by the city or they're being borne by the pope's foundation,” he said. “But he notably did not bring a press person with him to help out so we will have to find out exactly what the full cost is to the city later.”