Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday, an audience that follows President Donald Trump’s criticism of the first American pontiff over the Iran war.
The closed-door meeting was the first between the head of the Catholic Church and a Trump cabinet official in nearly a year.
It comes at a fraught time between Washington and the Holy See, with relations at a low after weeks of presidential attacks on Leo and the Chicago-born pope’s outspoken responses.
Asked by reporters Tuesday if he was going to the Vatican to “smooth things over with the Pope,” Rubio, a practicing Catholic, said the trip had been planned before and “obviously we had some stuff that happened.”
He said there was “a lot to talk about” with the Vatican, including humanitarian aid for Cuba and concerns over religious freedom around the world.
Pope Leo and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican today. @VaticanNews / via X
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