US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Rome this week, in an effort to ease tensions with the Vatican, according to multiple reports.
Rubio, a Roman Catholic, is tasked with “thawing” frosty relations following Donald Trump’s unprecedented verbal attack on the Pope, according to Corriere della Sera. The newspaper believes Rubio will meet the Vatican’s top diplomatic official, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a report corroborated by La Repubblica.
The visit is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, a year on from the beginning of Leo’s papacy, The Guardian reports.
President Trump called Pope Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” in a social media outburst, following criticism from the Catholic Church’s leader over the Iran war and US immigration policy.
The Pope, the first American in the position, said he had “no fear” of the White House. He has continued to speak out against the human cost of the conflict, backed by many Christian leaders around the world.
The President also fell out with Italian President Giorgia Meloni, a former ally, after she defended the Pope.
Rubio attended Pope Leo’s inaugural mass in May last year, alongside Vice President JD Vance. During a meeting between the three, Vance handed the Pope an invitation to the White House from President Trump. Religious freedom and work between the church and state were also discussed.
Corriere della Sera described the mission as “not impossible, but complicated”. It has been brokered by the American ambassador to Rome, Tilman Fertitta.