Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat down with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday, a high-stakes diplomatic encounter that unfolded just days after President Donald Trump escalated his public attacks on the American-born pontiff over the war in Iran.
Rubio, a practicing Catholic, arrived at the Vatican for an 11:30 a.m. local time meeting with the pope, according to his public schedule. He later met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See's secretary of state, at 12:15 p.m. The session ran approximately two and a half hours and included other senior Vatican officials, Reuters reported.
Vatican News posted images on X showing Rubio seated with Pope Leo, the pontiff speaking intently. The State Department described the discussions as covering “the situation in the Middle East and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere,” and stressed that 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 visit comes amid a deepening rift between Trump and Pope Leo. The president told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday that the pope is “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people” with his rhetoric on the war, which began Feb. 28 and has killed thousands of Iranian civilians. Trump added, “But I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
The pope fired back Tuesday, insisting the Vatican has consistently “spoken out against all nuclear weapons,” per Vatican News. “The mission of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel, to preach peace,” Leo told reporters. “If someone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let him do so truthfully.”
Rubio, who has been increasingly visible in the administration’s foreign policy push, denied that his Vatican trip was an attempt to mend fences. “It’s a trip we had planned from before, and obviously we had some stuff that happened,” he told reporters in the White House briefing room on Tuesday, a session that some analysts saw as signaling his ambitions for 2028. “We have shared concerns” with the Vatican on religious freedom and humanitarian aid to Cuba, Rubio said, adding, “The Cuban regime has to allow us to do it. They won’t allow us to give their own people more humanitarian aid. And we’re willing to do it through the church.”
On Trump’s nuclear weapons comment, Rubio echoed the president’s line: “He cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have” a nuclear weapon. He called it “an unacceptable outcome and an unacceptable risk,” adding, “It's puzzling. And someone has to do something about it.”
Rubio’s meeting with the pope also comes as he pushes a UN resolution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating hostilities with Iran. The diplomatic maneuvering underscores the administration’s dual-track approach: engaging the Vatican on humanitarian and regional issues while maintaining a hard line on Tehran.
