Following weeks of tension between the Vatican and the White House, the US State Department said talks on Thursday between Pope Leo XIV and Secretary of State Marco Rubio “underscored the strong relationship” between the two sides.
A Vatican statement said they “renewed the shared commitment” for good bilateral relations between the US and the Vatican.
The two sides also exchanged views on current events “with particular attention to countries marked by war, political tensions, and difficult humanitarian situations, as well as on the need to work tirelessly in favour of peace”.
The first American pontiff met Rubio following Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the Roman Catholic leader over the Iran war launched by Israel and the US.
“The meeting underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity,” said State Department spokesman, Tommy Pigott.
Rubio spent two-and-a-half hours at the Vatican before driving away in a convoy under tight security. He met initially with Leo before sitting down with senior Vatican officials, including top diplomat, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
With Parolin, Rubio discussed “efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East,” Pigott said. “The discussion reflected the enduring partnership between the United States and the Holy See in advancing religious freedom,” he added.
Thursday’s talks are the first known meeting between Pope Leo and a Trump government official in nearly a year. Parolin earlier said the meeting was requested by the US, and Leo would listen carefully to what Rubio had to say.
War of words between Trump and Leo
The most recent attack from Trump came on Monday, when he accused the pope of “endangering a lot of Catholics” by opposing the war, and falsely suggested the pontiff believed it was acceptable for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.
In remarks ahead of his trip, Rubio pushed back, saying the US leader’s early remarks had been mischaracterised.
“Well, I don’t think that’s an accurate description of what he said,” he told reporters on Tuesday when asked about Trump’s comments that the pope was “endangering a lot of Catholics”.
Rubio said the president’s concern was rooted in the threat Iran could pose to “places that have a lot of Catholics and Christians and others”, and questioned why “anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon”.
Trump had earlier criticised Leo in remarks to right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt, suggesting the pontiff was too soft on Tehran.
“The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and I don’t think that’s very good,” Trump said.
“I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people. But I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” he added.
Leo denied that he supported nuclear weapons; the Catholic Church teaches that they are immoral.
“The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace,” said the pope. “The Church has spoken out for years against all nuclear arms – on that there is no doubt.”
‘Frank’ conversations
The US ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, told journalists on Tuesday that the conversation between Leo and Rubio was expected to be “frank”.
On Wednesday, Parolin described Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo as “strange”, in comments quoted by Reuters. “I wouldn’t want to get into judgments or personal evaluations about this,” the cardinal told journalists.
Strains between Trump and Pope Leo began in March after the pontiff spoke out against the war in Iran and criticised the use of Christian rhetoric to justify military action. The dispute escalated in April when Trump attacked the pope on social media, calling him “weak on crime” and accusing him of aligning with the “radical left”.
Pope Leo later responded during a trip to Algeria, saying he was not afraid and would keep speaking out against the war.
“I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems,” he said. “Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”
On Friday, Rubio is set to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has defended the pope, while her defence minister has said the war in Iran puts the US leadership at risk.
Friday is Pope Leo’s first anniversary of becoming leader of the 1.4-billion-member church.
