Story Highlights
- Rubio met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Thursday, the eve of Leo’s first anniversary as pope
- Trump called the pope a danger to Catholics just days before the visit, accusing Leo of being comfortable with Iran possessing nuclear weapons
- Rubio is also scheduled to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday amid strained U.S.-Italy ties over the Iran war
What Happened
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will sit down with Pope Leo XIV on Thursday amid a historic period of tension between Washington and the Vatican. Rubio’s visit follows President Donald Trump‘s extraordinary criticisms of the first American pope in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history, which came after the pontiff expressed his opposition to the U.S. military operation in Iran. Leo has also continued to speak for the interests of refugees and migrants, in sharp contrast to the Trump administration.
In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump accused the pope of “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people,” claiming Leo was comfortable with Iran possessing a nuclear weapon. Trump’s latest attack came just days before Rubio’s planned visit to Italy and the Vatican.
Ahead of his departure, Rubio dismissed the notion that the meeting with Pope Leo is an attempt to reset diplomatic relations with the Vatican, which the U.S. has relied on as a humanitarian partner for years. He did acknowledge, however, that “there’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican,” including Cuba. Since his election last May, the first American pope has not had any direct contact — according to the public record — with Trump.
The Vatican has made clear that there will be no papal visit to the United States in 2026, largely due to the November midterm elections, with the pope not visiting countries in the run-up to elections. Tensions have also been rising following news that on January 22, the Pentagon held an unusual meeting with the then papal ambassador to the United States. While both the Vatican and Pentagon rejected some of the reporting about what was discussed, one Vatican source described the meeting to CNN as “unprecedented” and “tense.”
Rev. Antonio Spadaro, undersecretary in the Vatican’s culture office, said Rubio’s mission was not to “convert” the pope to Trump’s side. Rather, Washington “has come to acknowledge — implicitly but legibly — that Leo’s voice carries weight in the world that cannot simply be dismissed.”
Why It Matters
The Rubio-Leo meeting is one of the most symbolically loaded diplomatic encounters of Trump’s second term. No previous American president has been publicly at war with the head of the Catholic Church, and the fact that this particular pope is himself American — from Chicago — makes the dynamic both politically and culturally unique. For the approximately 70 million Catholics in the United States, the rift between their president and their pope is not an abstraction.
Journalist Massimo Franco, writing in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, said the Vatican’s decision not to cancel the pope’s audience with Rubio after Trump’s latest broadside was evidence of its willingness to keep dialogue open. But relations with the Meloni government, which is facing widespread Italian public opposition to the Iran war, are not so easily smoothed over. “Keeping the alliance with the United States firm while criticizing the president is showing itself to be increasingly difficult,” Franco wrote.
For Rubio specifically, the Vatican meeting carries personal and political weight beyond his role as the nation’s top diplomat. As a devout Catholic himself, he occupies an uncomfortable middle ground between his president and his faith’s leader. Italian commentators have suggested Rubio is also managing his own future ambitions, aware that his approach to this visit will be closely watched by Catholic voters ahead of 2028.
Giampiero Gramaglia, former head of the ANSA news agency, said he did not expect much to come out of Rubio’s visit for Italian or Vatican relations. He told Italy’s Foreign Press Association: “I have the perception that Rubio’s mission is more about himself” and his political ambitions as a prominent Catholic Republican.
Economic and Global Context
The Rubio visit occurs as the Iran war continues to strain U.S. relationships across Europe and the broader Western alliance. Italy is the second-largest EU trading partner with Iran after Germany, making Rome’s position in the conflict commercially significant as well as political. Italian public opposition to the war is widespread, and the Meloni government has found itself increasingly caught between its traditional alliance with Washington and the sentiments of its own citizens.
The pope’s criticism of the Iran war extends beyond moral opposition. Leo has spoken about the humanitarian toll of the conflict, the suffering of civilian populations, and the dangers of nuclear escalation — all issues with direct economic consequences. A prolonged war has disrupted energy markets, sent oil prices to levels not seen in years, and contributed to inflation running well above central bank targets across the Western world.
Farian Sabahi, a professor of contemporary history at the University of Insubria, said Meloni would be wise to more strongly condemn the war for the sake of putting Italy in a good position to rebuild Iran later. Italy is the No. 2 European Union trading partner with Iran, after Germany, working within EU sanctions.
The Vatican itself holds influence far beyond its diplomatic footprint. As a humanitarian actor with networks across the Middle East and a moral voice heard by more than a billion Catholics worldwide, the Holy See’s posture on the Iran conflict shapes how populations and governments across Europe, Latin America, and Africa perceive the American-led war effort.
Implications
The outcome of Thursday’s meeting will be closely watched by U.S. allies and adversaries alike. If Rubio can establish even a baseline of respectful communication with the pope, it could help stabilize the damaged perception of the U.S. among Catholic-majority nations in Europe and Latin America. If the visit is overshadowed by Trump’s latest attacks, it risks deepening the impression that American foreign policy lacks coherent coordination at the highest levels.
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch said he expected the meeting to involve “frank” discussions. “Nations have disagreements, and I think one of the ways that you work through those is through fraternity and authentic dialogue,” he said. “I think the Secretary is coming here in that spirit.”
For American Catholic voters — a bloc that has historically been politically contested and crucial to presidential elections — the sustained public feud between Trump and Leo creates real electoral risk. Catholic voters delivered key margins for Trump in 2024 in states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, and any erosion of support among that community ahead of the midterms carries significant consequences for Republican House and Senate candidates.
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