In what is shaping up to be one of the more awkward diplomatic road trips in recent memory, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly heading to the Vatican and Italy on a damage-control mission - because apparently someone has to smooth things over after President Donald Trump went on the offensive against Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope in history.
According to France 24, citing International Affairs Editor Rochelle Ferguson-Bouyahi, the visit is firmly in fence-mending territory. Trump's public broadsides against Pope Leo XIV have reportedly strained relations with the Holy See at a particularly sensitive moment, given that the new pontiff is himself an American citizen - which makes the whole spat feel a little like a family argument that got way too loud at Thanksgiving dinner.
Not just a papal problem
The Vatican drama is only part of the diplomatic mess Rubio is reportedly being asked to clean up. France 24 also notes that the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran has further alienated key allies, adding extra weight to what is shaping up to be a very busy European itinerary for the secretary of state.
The combination of those two flash points - a public feud with a beloved new pope and a controversial military operation - has apparently done enough reputational damage that the administration felt a senior-level in-person visit was warranted.
The optics are something else
There is an undeniable irony in dispatching a diplomat to apologize to the leader of the Catholic Church on behalf of a president who has consistently leaned on Christian nationalist rhetoric as a political identity marker. Whether Rubio's visit will actually repair the relationship or simply produce a polite photo opportunity at St. Peter's Square remains to be seen.
What is clear, based on France 24's reporting, is that the administration recognizes it has a genuine problem on its hands - one that crosses both geopolitical and theological lines. Italy, as a key NATO ally and the host of the Vatican, becomes doubly important to get right.
What comes next
Rubio's visit has not yet been accompanied by any formal statement of apology or policy shift, at least not as of France 24's reporting. But the very fact that the secretary of state is making the trip suggests that behind the scenes, the administration understands that calling out the pope in public has consequences - even in Washington.
All eyes will be on whether this diplomatic pilgrimage produces anything more substantial than handshakes and carefully worded joint statements.
