International

Rubio meets with Pope Leo at Vatican

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by Max Rego - 05/07/26 8:43 AM ET

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by Max Rego - 05/07/26 8:43 AM ET

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican early Thursday, days after President Trump reignited his feud with the American-born pontiff over the Iran war.

Rubio met with the pope for at 11:30 a.m. local time, according to his daily public schedule. At 12:15 p.m. local time, he met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state of the Holy See.

Vatican News posted photos of Rubio, a practicing Catholic, and the pope to the social platform X. In one photo, the two are seated and Leo is speaking to the secretary.

The meeting, as reported by Reuters, lasted about 2.5 hours and included other senior Vatican officials, such as top diplomat Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Their discussions focused on “the situation in the Middle East and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere,” and “underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity,” according to a press release from the State Department.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Leo for his stance on the U.S. immigration policy and the ongoing conflict in Iran. The pope has cited Catholic teaching in urging world governments to accept migrants and seek peace over war.

The president told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday that the head of the Catholic Church is “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people” with his rhetoric around the war, which began on Feb. 28 and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians in Iran.

“But I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added.

The pontiff, however, noted Tuesday that the Vatican has long “spoken out against all nuclear weapons,” according to Vatican News. He also defended his stances amid the president’s criticism.

“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.”

On Tuesday, Rubio denied that his trip to the Vatican was an attempt to improve relations with Leo.

“It’s a trip we had planned from before, and obviously we had some stuff that happened,” Rubio told reporters in the White House briefing room.

The secretary noted that the State Department and the Vatican “have shared concerns” regarding religious freedom around the world and the distribution of humanitarian aid to Cubans through the Catholic Church.

“The Cuban regime has to allow us to do it,” Rubio said. “They won’t allow us to give their own people more humanitarian aid. And we’re willing to do it through the church.”

As for Trump’s recent comment to Hewitt,” Rubio said that the president “cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have” a nuclear weapon.

“I think the president’s point is, how anyone cannot see that as an unacceptable outcome and an unacceptable risk is beyond him,” he added later. “It’s puzzling. And someone has to do something about it.”

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