Italian media present Rubio’s visit as an attempt to ‘thaw’ relations
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week, said an Italian government source this Sunday (3), weeks after a
The head of American diplomacy, who is Catholic, will meet with his Vatican counterpartsCardinal Pietro Parolin, and from Italy, Antonio Tajani, the source explained to AFP.
The Italian press also reported a meeting with the Minister of DefenseGuido Crosetto, during his visit, on Thursday and Friday.
The trip comes after Trump’s harsh criticism of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, and also of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of his closest allies in Europe.
Last month, the American president responded to the pope’s criticism against the war in the Middle East, calling it “weak” and “terrible for foreign policy”.
The Italian media presents Rubio’s visit as an attempt to “unfreeze” relations.
Since assuming leadership of the Catholic Church, the naturalized Peruvian American pontiff has criticized the Trump administration’s anti-immigration campaign.
But it was his anti-war rhetoric, especially after the attack by the United States and Israel against Iran, which triggered the war in the Middle East, that made the American president explode.
At the beginning of April, Leão assured that Trump’s threat to destroy Iran was “unacceptable” and urged Americans to pressure their politicians to “work for peace.”
In addition to calling him “weak” and “terrible”, the tycoon assured that he was not “a great admirer of the pope” and accused him of “playing with a country [o Irã] who wants a nuclear weapon.”
The Italian Prime Minister considered Trump’s attacks on the Pope “unacceptable”which led the president to attack her.
“I was surprised. I thought I had courage, but I was wrong,” he told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in mid-April.
He also accused Meloni, a far-right leader who tried to act as a bridge between Europe and the United States, of not helping Washington enough in NATO and threatened to withdraw American troops stationed in Italy.
