Related videos:
The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, met this Thursday with Pope Leo XIV in the private library of the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, during an audience that lasted from 11:15 to 11:30 in the morning (local time).
At the conclusion of the meeting, Rubio posted a brief message on his official X account, highlighting the alignment of principles and values shared by the Trump administration and the Holy See: “I emphasized our shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity.”
The visit comes at a time of unprecedented tensions between the Vatican and the White House and is part of a diplomatic effort by the Trump administration to convey the central goals of its foreign policy to the pontiff.
According to the official agenda of the Department of State, the topics included global religious freedom, Iran's nuclear ambitions, and humanitarian aid to Cuba channeled through the Catholic Church.
The most sensitive issue of the meeting was the war against Iran. The Epic Fury Operation, launched on February 28, destroyed Iranian nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow, sparking an open controversy between Trump and the Pope.
León XIV described the offensive as “unjust, unprovoked, immoral, and illegal” under the Catholic doctrine of just war, and labeled Trump's rhetoric about destroying “an entire civilization” as “truly unacceptable.”
Trump responded by attacking the pontiff on Truth Social, calling him "weak on crime" and "terrible in foreign policy", and went so far as to say: "If I weren't in the White House, León wouldn't be in the Vatican."
Just 48 hours before Rubio's visit, Trump hit back at the Pope in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Salem News Channel.
Rubio, for his part, had defended Washington's stance the day before at a press conference at the White House: "I don't understand why anyone — not even the Pope — would think it's a good idea for Iran to have a nuclear weapon." The Pope responded firmly: "The Church has opposed all nuclear weapons for years, there is no doubt."
It seems that another central point of the agenda was Cuba. On Wednesday, Rubio announced his intention to expand humanitarian aid to the island, provided that the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel allows for its direct distribution to the Cuban people without government intermediation.
The strategy involves using the Catholic Church and Cáritas Cuba as the exclusive channel, avoiding leaving resources in the hands of the regime.
The United States has already allocated 9 million dollars in aid to Cuba since Hurricane Melissa, which devastated the eastern part of the island in late 2025. The aid channeled through the Church benefited around 24,000 people in the most affected provinces.
This Thursday will be the second meeting between Rubio and León XIV. The first took place on May 19, 2025, a day after the inaugural mass of the pontificate, when Rubio attended alongside Vice President JD Vance.
This time, Rubio arrived at the Vatican with a larger delegation, and was received by the Bosnian Archbishop Peter Rajic, the new Prefect of the Pontifical Household, as the group entered through the Bell Arch under strict security protocols.
The cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, had anticipated that the meeting would be a "sincere conversation" addressing "everything that has happened in recent days."
Rev. Antonio Spadaro, Vatican Undersecretary of Culture, interpreted the visit as an implicit acknowledgment of the global weight of the papal voice, not as an attempt to align the pontiff with Trump's stance.
Filed under: