Marco Rubio to meet with Pope Leo amid rift between Trump and the Vatican
by Jeff Mordock · The Washington TimesSecretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Pope Leo XIV on Thursday at the Vatican.
America’s top diplomat gets an audience with the Pope a month after President Trump and the pontiff exchanged criticism related to immigration and the Iran war.
Mr. Rubio, a Catholic, will meet with the Pope and, a day later, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the Vatican and the Italian government announced on Monday. The State Department said Mr. Rubio will meet with the “Holy See leadership” and “Italian counterparts” without identifying anyone by name.
The purpose of the visit is to “advance bilateral relations with Italy and the Vatican,” according to the State Department.
Tensions have escalated between Washington, Rome and the Vatican. Mr. Trump, who lambasted the pope for his opposition to the Iran war, later turned his ire on Ms. Meloni, one of his staunchest European allies, when she defended the Pope.
The rift between Mr. Trump and Pope Leo, the first pope to be born in the United States, was touched off in April after the pope spoke out against the Iran war. The pope also criticized people who use Christian teachings to promote war, which many viewed as a thinly veiled attack on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Mr. Trump took direct aim at Pope Leo in a scathing social media post, calling him “weak on crime” and “catering to the Radical Left.”
Pope Leo, who had avoided using Mr. Trump’s name, then responded more forcefully.
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“I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor of speaking loudly about the message of the Gospel,” the pope told reporters. “And that’s what I believe I am called here to do.”
Ms. Meloni, who had already distanced herself from Mr. Trump over the Iran war, chose sides, saying Mr. Trump’s remarks about the pope were “unacceptable.”
Mr. Trump fired back, telling an Italian newspaper that he was “shocked by her.” The Italian prime minister said she had not spoken to Mr. Trump since his comments, but the relationship between Rome and Washington remained “solid.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.