Rubio meets Pope Leo at Vatican amid Trump criticism

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived at the Vatican for talks with Pope Leo XIV, in a visit aimed at easing tensions between Washington and the Holy See.

The meeting is expected to be held behind closed doors and to last about half an hour, before Rubio goes on to meet Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.

Parolin said the meeting was requested by the US, and that Leo would listen carefully to what Rubio had to say.

The US ambassador to the Holy See has said the conversation is likely to be frank.

The talks come after President Donald Trump's public criticism of the pope over his anti-war stance on the Iran conflict, which has sharpened strains between the two sides.

Trump accused Leo of endangering Catholics and wrongly suggested the pontiff believed it was acceptable for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Leo rejected that claim, saying the Church has spoken for years against all nuclear arms.

The visit matters because it is the first known meeting between the pope and a Trump administration official in nearly a year, and it comes at a sensitive moment in relations between the Vatican and Washington.

Rubio is also due to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has defended the pope against Trump's remarks.

The Vatican has described the recent attacks as strange, while avoiding a direct personal response.

Leo has become increasingly outspoken on the world stage in recent weeks, including comments during a trip to Africa in which he said the world was being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.

He later said those remarks were not directed at Trump.

#Vatican #MarcoRubio #PopeLeoXIV #DonaldTrump #CardinalPietroParolin