US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a gathering with Pope Leo XIV on Thursday amid a historic period of tension between Washington and the Vatican.
The two mentioned “the situation in the Middle East and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere,” based on temporary readout of their assembly from the US State Department.
“The meeting underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity,” the readout stated.
Rubio was contained in the Apostolic Palace for greater than two hours, based on the press pool on the bottom. It is unclear how lengthy the assembly with Leo lasted – the go to additionally was anticipated to incorporate a gathering with different Vatican officers.
Rubio stated previous to the assembly that he deliberate to debate Cuba with the Pope. The Trump administration has distributed hundreds of thousands in humanitarian support on the island by means of the Catholic Church.
The go to follows President Donald Trump’s extraordinary criticisms of the primary American pope within the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year historical past, which got here after the pontiff expressed his opposition to the US navy operation in Iran.
Leo has additionally continued to talk for the pursuits of refugees and migrants, in sharp distinction to the Trump administration.
Rubio’s airplane touched down in Rome Thursday morning, additionally the eve of Leo’s first anniversary as pope, earlier than the secretary of state headed to the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, the place the assembly passed off.
Ahead of his departure, the highest US diplomat dismissed the notion that the assembly with Pope Leo is an try and re-set diplomatic relations with the Vatican, which the US has relied on as a humanitarian accomplice for years. He did acknowledge, nonetheless, that “there’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican,” together with Cuba.
“The trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage with them,” Rubio stated at a White House press briefing Tuesday.
His journey to Rome and the Vatican comes as Trump has lashed out not solely on the pope for his views on the struggle but in addition lambasted the US’ longtime European allies – additional testing the transatlantic relationship in methods not seen in many years. Rubio will meet on Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni amid ongoing criticism by Trump for what he stated was Italy’s lack of assist for the US’ struggle towards Iran.
Following the assembly, Rubio can be anticipated to sit down down with different high Vatican officers together with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State.
It marked the second assembly between Rubio, who’s a religious Catholic, and the Chicago-born pope, and the primary recognized assembly between a member of the administration and Leo in virtually a yr. Rubio and Vice President JD Vance met him after his inauguration mass final yr.
In a prolonged Truth Social put up final month, Trump criticized Leo as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!,” Trump wrote.
Pope Leo responded a day later that he had “no fear” of the Trump administration and would proceed talking for peace however insisted that it was “not in my interest” to debate the US president. One Vatican official, later enjoying down the tensions, informed NCS with a wry smile that “President Trump is too intelligent to be in a battle with a pope from the United States”.
But Trump’s assaults on Leo should not solely unprecedented, however ongoing. On Monday, Trump as soon as once more took goal on the pope, saying that he was “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people” with Trump claiming Leo is comfortable with Iran having a nuclear weapon.
The feedback appeared to attract a rebuke from Italy’s overseas minister, who on Tuesday stated that the assaults towards the pontiff weren’t acceptable nor useful to the trigger of peace.
On Tuesday, Leo stated that individuals are free to criticize him, though they need to “do so with the truth” and that “the mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel and peace.” On Trump’s claims about nuclear weapons, the pope stated the church has for years “spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt on that point.” Rubio on Tuesday downplayed Trump’s newest broadside.
Since his election final May, the primary American pope has not had any direct contact – based on the general public file – with Trump. The Vatican has made it clear that there might be no papal go to to the United States in 2026, largely as a result of November mid-term elections with the pope not visiting international locations within the run-up to elections.
Tensions have additionally been rising following information that, on January 22, the Pentagon held an uncommon assembly with the then papal ambassador to the United States. While each the Vatican and Pentagon rejected some of the reporting about what was mentioned, one Vatican supply described the assembly to NCS as “unprecedented” and that it was “tense”.
Officials say Thursday’s assembly would mark an try to maneuver past the general public back-and forth and return to the behind-the-scenes diplomacy favored by the Holy See. Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official, sees the pope-Rubio assembly as “cooling the rhetoric” whereas Brian Burch, the US ambassador to the Holy See, informed reporters this week that the secretary of state is coming to have “a frank conversation about US policy, to engage in dialogue.”
And although the first function of the journey isn’t political, there may be probably an upside if Rubio can dampen tensions. While many Catholics voted for Trump’s re-election, some consultants query the political rationale of attacking the pope, with NCS’s chief information analyst, Harry Enten, highlighting Pope Leo’s constructive ballot rankings. After criticizing the pope, the president additionally posted – after which deleted – an AI-image of himself as a Christ-like determine, which he later stated depicted him as a physician.
This story has been up to date with further developments.