Pope Leo, after Rubio meet, asks God to inspire leaders to calm tensions, praises Italian effort welcoming Gaza refugees

Pope Leo has asked that God inspire world leaders to calm global tensions and reduce hatred in an address to mark his first anniversary as head of the Catholic Church, a day after he met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican.

Leo, who has drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump after criticizing the Iran war, has asked worshippers to pray that global governments would turn away from violence.

In a visit to Pompei, a modern city about 245 km (152 miles) south of Rome near the famed ruins of a volcanic eruption, the pope said he would join their prayers that God would begin “touching hearts, calming rancor and fratricidal hatreds, and enlightening those who have special responsibilities of government.”

Leo, the first US pope, held talks with Rubio on Thursday in an atmosphere of tension with Washington as Trump has repeatedly disparaged the pontiff on social media.

The Vatican said afterwards that the two had pledged to improve their bilateral relations, in what insiders said was an unusual recognition of unprecedented tensions.

The US embassy to the Holy See said on X after the meeting that Leo and Rubio had discussed “topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere.”

Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected by the world’s cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church on May 8, 2025.

In his message to thousands in Pompei’s main square, the pontiff laments that world peace is “endangered by international tensions and by an economy that prefers the arms trade to respect for human life.”

He urges people not to become accustomed to war.

“We cannot resign ourselves to the images of death that the news shows us every day,” says Leo.

In a later visit on Friday, Italy’s third-largest city, the pope praises initiatives by groups there to welcome refugees coming to Italy from Gaza.

Leo urges Neapolitans to “continue to give voice … to a culture of peace, countering the logic of confrontation and the force of arms as the presumed solution to conflicts.”