US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday, in a visit widely seen as an attempt to ease tensions following repeated criticisms of the pontiff by President Donald Trump. The meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, took place at the Apostolic Palace and included discussions with Vatican officials.
The Vatican issued a statement saying the talks focused on “the need to work tirelessly in favour of peace,” with particular attention to war-torn countries and humanitarian crises. Rubio presented the pope with a small crystal American football, joking that Leo, a Chicago native and White Sox fan, was more of a “baseball guy.”
A US official described the conversations as “friendly and constructive,” while a State Department spokesperson said the meeting underscored the “strong relationship” between the US and the Holy See, as well as their “shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity.” However, it remains unclear whether the talks will repair ties strained by Trump’s attacks.
On Tuesday, Trump accused the pope of supporting nuclear weapons and endangering Catholics with his stance against the Iran war. Leo responded on Wednesday, saying: “If anyone wants to criticise me for proclaiming the gospel, let them do so with the truth: the church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years.”
Relations have been fraught since April, when Trump called Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy,” and shared an AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like figure. Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who met Rubio separately, had earlier described Trump’s attacks as “rather strange.”
Rubio is also scheduled to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, as relations between Rome and Washington have deteriorated. Political historian Lorenzo Castellani noted that Trump’s attacks on the pope have forced Meloni to distance herself from the US president, despite her earlier praise for him.
