US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to travel to Rome this week for a meeting with Pope Leo XIV, according to a Vatican source, in what Italian media has described as an effort to ease tensions following a public dispute between the pontiff and President Donald Trump.
The Vatican source confirmed reports circulating in Italian media on Sunday, with newspapers indicating the meeting is expected to take place on Thursday. The visit is being characterized as an attempt to "thaw" relations between Washington and the Holy See.
The planned encounter comes in the wake of an unusually sharp exchange between the two leaders. Trump publicly criticized Pope Leo XIV over the Catholic leader's anti-war rhetoric, a rare instance of a sitting US president openly challenging a reigning pope. The specific nature of that criticism has drawn significant attention in diplomatic and religious circles.
An Italian government source earlier provided information to Agence France-Presse regarding the visit, according to reporting by the South China Morning Post, which first published the details of the planned engagement.
A sensitive diplomatic moment
The Rubio visit signals that the Trump administration is moving to address the fallout from the public disagreement with the Vatican at the highest diplomatic level. Rubio, himself a Catholic, is regarded as a figure who may carry particular weight in conversations with Vatican leadership.
Pope Leo XIV has not shied away from addressing issues of war and peace since ascending to the papacy, continuing a tradition of Catholic social teaching that has at times placed the Holy See at odds with political leaders across the ideological spectrum.
The United States and the Vatican maintain formal diplomatic relations, with the two sides historically cooperating on humanitarian issues, religious freedom concerns, and international mediation efforts. A prolonged rift between Washington and Rome would carry consequences beyond the symbolic, given the Catholic Church's global reach and its role in diplomatic back-channels.
No official agenda for the Thursday meeting has been released by either the US State Department or the Vatican. It remains unclear whether the session will produce any joint statement or agreed framework for future engagement.
