Posted on May 7, 2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived at the Vatican to meet with Pope Leo XIV in what is seen as an attempt to repair relations after President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the pontiff.
The closed-door meeting is expected to last about half an hour on Thursday, and then Rubio will meet with his counterpart, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.
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This is the first known meeting between the Pope and a Trump administration official in almost a year. Parolin said the meeting was requested by the United States and that Leo would listen carefully to what Rubio had to say.
“I imagine they will talk about everything that has happened in recent days,” he said, quoted by the Reuters news agency.
Relations between Trump and Pope Leo have deteriorated sharply, fueled by a spate of public attacks from the American leader after the pontiff became an outspoken critic of the US-Israel war against Iran, sparking violent reactions from Christian leaders across the political spectrum.
Trump’s most recent attack came on Monday, when he accused the pope of “endangering many Catholics” by opposing the war and falsely suggested that the pontiff believed it was acceptable for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.
Pope Leo denied supporting nuclear weapons, which the Catholic Church teaches are immoral.
“The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace,” the Pope said. “The Church has spoken out for years against all nuclear weapons, there is no doubt about that.”
‘Frank’ conversations
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch told reporters Tuesday that the conversation between Leo and Rubio would likely be “frank.”
On Wednesday, Parolin described Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo as “bizarre,” in comments cited by Reuters. “I wouldn’t want to get into judgments or personal assessments about this,” the cardinal told reporters outside an event near the Vatican.
Rubio will also meet with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has defended the pope against Trump’s attacks.
Pope Leo has become increasingly outspoken on the world stage in recent weeks. During a trip to four African countries, he declared that the world was being “devastated by a handful of tyrants”; comments that he later said were not directed at Trump.
On Friday, Pope Leo, who became the first American pontiff, will mark his first year leading the 1.4 billion-member Church.
