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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived astatine the Vatican connected Thursday (May 7, 2026) for talks with U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV, pursuing weeks of tensions betwixt the Vatican and the White House.
His fence-mending sojourn comes aft President Donald Trump's broadsides against Pope Leo and the U.S.-Israeli warfare successful Iran angered the Holy See and sparked ongoing sparring betwixt the 2 American leaders.
Mr. Rubio, a practising Catholic, had an assemblage scheduled with Pope Leo, which was analyzable astatine the past infinitesimal by Mr. Trump's latest disapproval of the Chicago-born pope.
Pope Leo has pushed back, calling retired Mr. Trump's misrepresentations of his views connected Iran and atomic weapons and insisting that helium is simply preaching the biblical connection of peace.
Mr. Rubio was besides owed to conscionable with the Vatican caput of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who connected the eve of his sojourn powerfully defended Leo and criticised Mr. Trump's attacks successful understated diplomatic terms.
“Attacking him similar that oregon criticising what helium does seems a spot unusual to me, to accidental the least,” Mr. Parolin said connected Wednesday (May 6, 2026).
Meetings connected Friday (May 8, 2026) with Premier Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani mightiness not beryllium overmuch easier for America's apical diplomat, fixed some person powerfully defended Pope Leo against Mr. Trump's attacks and person criticised the Iran warfare arsenic amerciable — drafting the president's ire.
Rubio insisted this week that the sojourn had been successful the works for a portion but that “obviously we had immoderate worldly that happened”.
Vatican seen arsenic consenting to person dialogue
Giampiero Gramaglia, erstwhile caput of the ANSA news bureau and its onetime Washington correspondent, said helium didn't expect overmuch to travel retired of Mr. Rubio's sojourn for Italian oregon Vatican relations.
He, and different Italian commentators, judge Mr. Rubio alternatively was looking to creaseless implicit relations with the pope for his ain governmental ambitions arsenic good arsenic the upcoming midterm legislature elections and 2028 statesmanlike race.
“I uncertainty Rubio has the relation of conciliator for Mr. Trump,” helium told Italy's Foreign Press Association. “I person the cognition that Mr. Rubio's ngo is much astir himself” and his governmental ambitions arsenic a salient Catholic Republican.
The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, undersecretary successful the Vatican's civilization office, said Rubio's ngo wasn't to “convert” the pope to Mr. Trump's side. Rather, Washington “has travel to admit — implicitly but legibly — that (Leo's) dependable carries value successful the satellite that cannot simply beryllium dismissed.”
“The concern created by President Trump's remarks required a high-level, nonstop intervention, conducted successful the due connection of diplomacy: a semantic corrective to a communicative of frontal struggle with the church,” helium wrote successful an effort this week.
Journalist Massimo Franco, penning successful the Corriere della Sera newspaper, said the Vatican's determination to not cancel the pope's assemblage with Mr. Rubio aft Mr. Trump's latest broadside was grounds of its willingness to support unfastened dialogue.
But relations with the Meloni government, which is facing wide Italian nationalist absorption to the Iran war, are not truthful easy smoothed over. “Keeping the confederation with the United States steadfast portion criticizing the president is showing itself to beryllium progressively difficult,” Mr. Franco wrote.
Cuba is besides connected the agenda
Mr. Rubio said topics different than the Iran warfare were connected the docket for the Vatican visit, including Cuba. The Holy See is peculiarly acrophobic astir the Trump administration's threats of imaginable subject enactment determination pursuing its January ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Mr. Trump has said often that Cuba could beryllium “next” and adjacent suggested that erstwhile the warfare with Iran is over, naval assets deployed successful West Asia could instrumentality to the United States by mode of Cuba.
Mr. Rubio is the lad of Cuban immigrants and a longtime Cuba hawk.
