Rubio and Pope Leo meet at the Vatican to discuss Middle East after weeks of tension

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pope Leo XIV met Thursday at the Vatican to discuss the situation in the Middle East and other matters, a meeting that came after weeks of tension between the American-born pontiff and President Trump.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio met today with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to discuss the situation in the Middle East and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. “The meeting underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity.”

Rubio, who is a devout Catholic, also met with Vatican Secretary of Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. In a separate readout of that meeting, Pigott said the pair discussed “mutual cooperation and pressing international issues” and “efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East.” 

The meeting itself was not open to the press, although the Vatican released photos of the two men. Rubio was inside the Apostolic Palace for two hours and 15 minutes, according to reporters traveling with him. 

The Vatican meetings come after weeks of Mr. Trump lobbing insults at Pope Leo, although things appear to have cooled. On March 29 — Palm Sunday — Pope Leo wrote on social media, “This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.  He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” 

In a “60 Minutes” story that aired on April 12, cardinals discussed the pontiff’s criticism of Mr. Trump’s deportation policy and the war in Iran. Shortly after the segment aired that night, the president lambasted the pope in a lengthy post as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

That evening, Mr. Trump posted an AI-generated image to social media that appeared to show him in a Jesus-like position healing a sick man in a hospital bed. After criticism, including from conservatives, Mr. Trump deleted the image and told reporters he believed it showed him as a doctor. 

The president’s criticism of the pope — and the pope’s somewhat veiled remarks in response — continued, although the president appeared to soften his stance somewhat. But shortly before Rubio left for the Vatican this week, the president said of the pontiff in comments to radio host Hugh Hewitt: “I think ⁠he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and ‌a lot of people. But I guess it’s up to the Pope. He thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” 

Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, both Catholics, have been asked to square the president’s statements with their Catholic faith.

“Now we can, of course, have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just, but I think in the way that it’s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said last month.