US Secretary of State Marco Rubio left the Vatican on Thursday after a lengthy meeting with Pope Leo X, amid tensions between the pontiff and President Donald Trump.
Rubio spent about two and a half hours inside, first meeting the Pope, then talking with senior Vatican officials, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Leo and Rubio “renewed their shared commitment to fostering good bipartisan relations,” Vatican said In a statement after the meeting.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott also echoed the statement, saying Rubio’s meeting with Leo was a sign of the “strong” relationship between the Vatican and the United States.
“The meeting underlined the strong ties between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity,” he said.
The Vatican said the discussions were “cordial” and covered global conflicts and humanitarian issues. He also addressed “the need to work tirelessly for peace.”
Leo gave Rubio a pen made of olive wood, saying “The olive tree is a plant of peace.”
Rift over war in Iran
Rubio tried to minimize the rift between Trump and Pope Leo ahead of his meeting with the Catholic Church leader.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Rubio said the trip was planned before Trump attacked the Pope for criticizing the war in Iran.
In Trump’s latest comments, the president claimed the Pope thinks “it’s OK for Iran to have nuclear weapons.”
“Obviously we had some conversations… there’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican,” Rubio told reporters.
On Wednesday, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said, “I think that while we will talk about what has happened in recent days, we cannot avoid touching these topics.”
“We will listen to them,” Parolin said. He also said that Washington had initiated the meeting.
Trump attacked Pope Leo
Pope Leo XIV, elected a year ago this Friday, is the first American Pope. He angered Trump after becoming a prominent critic of the Iran war and the Trump administration’s radical anti-immigration policies.
Despite receiving overwhelming support from Catholic voters, Trump has continued a series of verbal attacks against the Pope in recent weeks.
Earlier in April, after Trump claimed he “wouldn’t be in the Vatican” if Leo were not president, the Pope said in a statement that “no reason can justify the shedding of innocent blood.” Trump then posted an AI-generated image of himself looking like a god, which was quickly removed.
Following the latest outcry on Monday, in which Trump claimed Leo was “putting too many Catholics in danger by opposing the war,” the Pope said, “If anyone wants to criticize me for preaching the Gospel, let them do so truthfully.”
He said, “The Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, so there is no doubt.”
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko