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Sunday, May 3, 2026
After Trump feud with pope, Rubio set to visit Vatican this week
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the Vatican and Italy for meetings this week, two Italian newspapers report, several weeks after US President Donald Trump drew criticism from Christians across the political spectrum by attacking Pope Leo on social media.
Reports in national dailies La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera do not indicate whether Rubio, a Catholic, will meet personally with Leo, but say he is expected to meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s lead diplomatic official.
Rubio last met Leo, the first US pope, in May 2025, alongside Vice President JD Vance. The two US officials attended the new pope’s inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square and had a private meeting with the pontiff the next day.
The pope, who maintained a relatively low profile on the global stage in the first months of his papacy, emerged in recent weeks as an outspoken critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran and sharply criticized the Trump administration’s hardline anti-immigration policies.
Trump criticized Leo on social media several times in April, at one point calling the pontiff “terrible.”
Rubio is also set to hold talks with Italy’s foreign and defense ministers, the papers report, adding that the trip is aimed at easing tensions between the two countries after Trump’s blunt criticism of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — one of his closest European allies — last month.
The Times of Israel Community.