US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived at the Vatican on Thursday to meet Pope Leo amid tensions with Donald Trump over the Iran war.
Rubio is expected to meet personally with the Pope for about 30 minutes. He will then meet with the Vatican’s top diplomat, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
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, Parolin 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