OAN Staff Addie Davis
8:19 AM – Thursday, May 7, 2026
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV as he continues his three-day trip to Italy and the Vatican, amid tensions between the pontiff and President Donald Trump over conflict in the Middle East.
On Thursday, at 11:30 a.m. local time, Rubio met with Holy See leadership in Vatican City to discuss the situation in the Middle East as well as shared interests in the Western Hemisphere, according to the State Department.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, the secretary of state acknowledged the dispute between President Donald Trump and the pope over the conflict in Iran. However, he denied that the previously planned visit was intended to resolve the disagreement.
While Pope Leo has taken an anti-war stance in general, both Trump and Rubio emphasized the consequences for the world, including Christians, if Iran were ever to obtain a nuclear weapon.
“It is a trip we had planned from before. And obviously, we had some stuff that happened. Look, there’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican,” Rubio said.
“The pope just returned from a trip to Africa, where the Church is growing very vibrantly. And we have shared concerns about religious freedom. Religious freedom in different parts of the world,” the secretary added.
Additionally, he referenced $6 million given to Cuba by the U.S. for humanitarian aid, but the regime blocked its distribution.
“Obviously, they won’t let us distribute it. We distributed it through the Church,” he said. “We’re willing to give more humanitarian aid to Cuba, by the way, distribute it through the Church, but the Cuban regime has to allow us to do it. They won’t allow us to give their own people more humanitarian aid, and we’re willing to do it through the Church. So there’s a lot to talk about.”
Recognizing the widespread influence of the Catholic Church across the world, he explained that the U.S. engages frequently with the Vatican.
“We worked with the Catholic Church on the distribution of humanitarian aid in Cuba. We share with the Catholic Church a concern about the destruction of religious liberty, the persecution of Christian minorities,” he said, adding the challenges faced by Christians in Africa.
“The trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage with them, and other secretary of states have done that in the past,” he continued.
On Friday, Rubio is expected to attend meetings with Italian officials, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which the state department said would focus on “shared security interests and strategic alignment.”
Previously championed as a key ally, Meloni drew sharp criticism from President Trump due to her lack of support for the Iranian conflict, as well as her condemnation of Trump’s remarks about the pope.
Both Italy and Spain denied the U.S. the use of their bases for Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The American president threatened to pull out troops from the two countries, consistent with the Pentagon’s planned withdrawal of 5,000 service members from Germany over the next several months.
On Thursday, Rubio sat down with the pope for more than two hours, according to Reuters, and also met with his Vatican counterpart, Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The trip to Rome marks Rubio’s second visit with the church leader within a year, as the secretary of state and Vice President JD Vance, both practicing Catholics, met with Pope Leo shortly after his inauguration.
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