Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican early Thursday, just days after President Trump reignited his public feud with the American-born pontiff over the war in Iran.
According to Rubio’s public schedule, the secretary met with Pope Leo at 11:30 a.m. local time. He later met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state, at 12:15 p.m.
Vatican News shared photos from the meeting on X, including one showing the pope seated across from Rubio while speaking to the secretary of state. Rubio, a practicing Catholic, appeared alongside several senior Vatican officials during the visit.
Reuters reported that the meeting lasted roughly 2.5 hours and included other top Vatican leaders, including Cardinal Parolin.
According to a State Department press release, discussions focused on “the situation in the Middle East and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere.” The department added that the talks “underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity.”
The meeting comes amid growing tensions between Trump and Pope Leo over immigration and the ongoing conflict in Iran.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the pope for his positions on U.S. immigration policy and the war, while Leo has invoked Catholic teaching in urging governments to welcome migrants and prioritize peace over military escalation.
Speaking Monday with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump accused the pope of “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people” with his rhetoric surrounding the conflict, which began on Feb. 28 and has killed 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.
Pope Leo pushed back against those criticisms on Tuesday, noting that the Vatican has long “spoken out against all nuclear weapons,” according to Vatican News.
“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.”
Rubio also rejected suggestions that his Vatican trip was intended to repair relations between the White House and the pope.
“It’s a trip we had planned from before, and obviously we had some stuff that happened,” Rubio told reporters Tuesday during a White House briefing.
