U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio departed the Vatican on Thursday after an extended meeting with Pope Leo, taking place amid growing tensions between the pontiff and President Donald Trump.
Rubio spent roughly two and a half hours at the Holy See. He first met with Pope Leo and then held further discussions with senior Vatican officials, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Officials have not released details of the talks, but the meeting ran longer than initially expected.
Rift over the war in Iran
Ahead of the visit, Rubio sought to downplay the public rift between Trump and Pope Leo. He told reporters the trip had been planned before Trump publicly criticized the pope over the war in Iran.
In recent comments, Trump accused the pope of thinking it was “OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” Rubio acknowledged recent friction but emphasized the scope of matters to be addressed, saying, “Obviously we had some stuff that happened … There’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican.”
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said on Wednesday that he expected the meetings to touch on recent events. “I imagine we’ll talk about everything that’s happened in recent days, we can’t avoid touching on these topics,” Parolin said, adding, “We’ll listen to him,” and noting that Washington had requested the meeting.
Trump’s disputes with Pope Leo
Pope Leo XIV, elected one year ago this Friday and described as the first U.S. pope, has emerged as a vocal critic of the war in Iran and of the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies. Those stances have drawn sharp public rebukes from the president.
In April, after the pope said “no cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood,” Trump tweeted that Leo “wouldn’t be in the Vatican” if he were not president. He also posted an AI-generated image depicting himself in god-like imagery, which was later taken down.
Following a recent outburst in which Trump alleged the pope was “endangering a lot of Catholics by opposing the war,” Pope Leo responded, “If anyone wishes to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully.” The pope added, “The Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, so there is no doubt about that.”
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko