Several points of contention were on the discussion table, with the war in Iran above them all.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV this Thursday, at a time when there is a historic period of tension between Washington and the Vatican.
Rubio’s visit comes after United States President Donald Trump’s extraordinary criticism of the first American pope in the two thousand year history of the Catholic Church, which followed the pontiff’s expression of opposition to the American military operation in Iran.
Leo XIV has also spoken out in defense of the interests of refugees and migrants, in stark contrast to the Trump administration.
Rubio’s plane landed in Rome this Thursday morning, the eve of Leo XIV’s first anniversary as Pope, before the Secretary of State headed to the Apostolic Palace, the Pope’s official residence, where the meeting took place.
Before his departure, the top American diplomat dismissed the idea that the meeting with Pope Leo XIV was an attempt to reestablish diplomatic relations with the Vatican, which the US has counted on for years as a humanitarian partner. He acknowledged, however, that “there is a lot to talk about with the Vatican,” including Cuba. “The trip isn’t really tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to interact with them,” Rubio said at a White House press conference last Tuesday.
His trip to Rome and the Vatican comes at a time when Trump has not only criticized the Pope for his views on war, but also attacked the US’s longtime European allies – further testing the transatlantic relationship in ways not seen in decades. Rubio will meet this Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, when there is also continued criticism from Trump of the Transalpine leader for what he said was Italy’s lack of support for the US war against Iran.
After the meeting, Rubio is also expected to meet with other Vatican authorities, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See.
This was the second meeting between Rubio, who is a devout Catholic, and the Chicago-born Pope, and the first known meeting between a member of the US government and Leo XIV in almost a year. Rubio and Vice President JD Vance met with him after his inauguration mass last year.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social last month, Trump criticized Leo XIII as “WEAK at fighting crime and terrible at foreign policy.”
“Leo XIV should get his act together as Pope, use common sense, stop pandering to the radical left and focus on being a great Pope, not a politician. This is hurting him greatly and, more importantly, it is hurting the Catholic Church!” Trump wrote.
Pope Leo XIV responded a day later that he had “no fear” of the Trump administration and would continue to speak out for peace, but insisted that it was “not in my interest” to debate the US president. A Vatican official, later downplaying tensions, told CNN with a wry smile that “President Trump is too smart to clash with a Pope from the United States.”
But Trump’s attacks on Leo XIV are not only unprecedented, they are ongoing. This Monday, Trump again attacked the Pope, saying that he was “endangering many Catholics and many people”, claiming that Leo XIV is satisfied with the fact that Iran has nuclear weapons.
The comments appear to have drawn a rebuke from Italy’s foreign minister, who said the attacks against the pontiff were neither acceptable nor contributing to the cause of peace.
Pope says he must be criticized “with the truth”
This Tuesday, Leo XIV stated that people are free to criticize him, although they must “do so with the truth” and that “the mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel and peace”. Regarding Trump’s statements regarding nuclear weapons, the Pope said that the Church for years “has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt about that point.” Rubio downplayed Trump’s most recent attack on the same day.
Since his election last May, the first American Pope has not had direct contact – according to public records – with Trump. The Vatican has made it clear that there will be no papal visit to the United States in 2026, mainly due to the midterm elections in November, a period in which the Pope does not visit countries before the elections.
Tensions also rose following news that on January 22, the Pentagon held an unusual meeting with the then-papal ambassador to the United States. Although the Vatican and the Pentagon have rejected some of the reports about what was discussed, a Vatican source described the meeting to CNN as “unprecedented” and “tense.”
Officials say Thursday’s meeting would represent an attempt to move past public barbs and return to the low-key diplomacy favored by the Holy See. Father Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official, sees the meeting between the Pope and Rubio as a way to “cool down the rhetoric,” while Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, told reporters this week that the secretary of state is coming to have “a frank conversation about U.S. policy, to have a dialogue.”
And although the main purpose of the trip is not political, there is a potential benefit if Rubio can ease tensions. While many Catholics voted for Trump’s reelection, some experts question the political logic of attacking the Pope, with CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten highlighting Pope Leo XIV’s positive approval ratings in polls. After criticizing the Pope, the US president also published – and later deleted – an AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like figure, which he later claimed portrayed him as a doctor.
Possible common ground about Cuba
One of the topics that was probably also discussed this Thursday was Cuba. The Trump administration intensified the economic blockade of the island, trying to force Havana into a political settlement, and the US president continued to raise the possibility of military intervention.
The Vatican, in turn, maintains active diplomatic action in Cuba and helped broker the recent release of prisoners. The Trump administration worked with the Catholic Church to distribute six million dollars in humanitarian aid to the island, Rubio said this week.
“In fact, we are willing to send more humanitarian aid to Cuba, distributed through the Church,” added Rubio.
Francesco Sisci, director of the Appia Institute, a think tank that follows Vatican diplomacy, assured that this would be a topic on the table: “they will talk about Cuba, and it would be strange if they didn’t. But the devil is in the details.” Although he has stated that the Vatican would support a “transition” in Cuba’s political leadership, asking the Pope to bless any violent action is very difficult.
Sisci told CNN that the Church “will take into account the goodwill” of Rubio’s visit to the Vatican, but will be “cautious about possible manipulations.” He compared the meeting to a modern-day “Canossa,” referring to the time when the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, in 1077, made a public apology and submission to Pope Gregory VII.
Rubio further suggested that the two sides would find common ground regarding concerns about the persecution of Christian minorities in Africa, a continent that Leo XIV recently visited.
“We have a lot to talk about with them, and I’ve been talking a lot about it,” he said.
Still, the areas of disagreement between the papacy and the Trump administration are significant. Christopher White, senior fellow at the Initiative for Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, said the war in Iran would be the meeting’s main topic, along with the treatment of migrants and the marginalized, artificial intelligence and cuts to USAID.
“Following the president’s unprecedented attack on the Pope – and blasphemous use of religious imagery – this is an attempt by the government to reset relations with the Vatican and, presumably, to repair the damage done to the many Catholics who were appalled by such behavior,” said White, who was with Leo XIV before his election and is the author of “Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.”
CNN’s Kristen Holmes and Laura Sharman contributed to this report
