Rubio to visit Rome, meet Pope Leo after Trump row in attempt to ‘thaw’ relations

The Vatican said the US secretary of state’s meeting would take place on Thursday, weeks after Trump criticised the pope’s anti-war rhetoric

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Pope Leo on a trip to Rome this week, in the wake of the pontiff’s clash with US President Donald Trump, a Vatican source said on Sunday.

The source confirmed Italian media reports about the meeting, which newspapers said would take place on Thursday in an attempt to “thaw” relations.

It comes just weeks after Trump’s extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo XIV over the Catholic leader’s anti-war rhetoric.

An Italian government source earlier told Agence France-Presse that Rubio would also meet Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Rubio had asked for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump’s closest European allies, whom he turned on after she defended the pope, the source added.

Media reports said he was also expected to meet Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, amid a deepening rift in transatlantic ties over the war in the Middle East.