Vatican And State Department Stress Solid Ties After Rubio's Fence-mending Visit Over Trump Attacks

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican raised nan “need to activity tirelessly successful favour of peace” successful talks Thursday pinch U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who came to Rome connected a fence-mending sojourn aft President Trump’s criticisms of Pope Leo XIV complete nan Iran war.

Both nan Vatican and nan U.S. State Department stressed that Rubio’s meetings pinch Leo and nan Vatican’s apical diplomat underscored beardown bilateral ties. Those relations, though, person been strained complete Trump’s repeated broadsides astir Leo’s calls for bid and speech to extremity nan U.S.-Israeli war.

Rubio, a practicing Catholic, has often been called connected to reside down aliases explicate Trump’s harsh rhetoric. He had an assemblage first pinch Leo, which was analyzable astatine nan past infinitesimal by Trump’s latest disapproval of nan Chicago-born pope. During a 2½-hour visit, Rubio past met pinch nan Vatican caput of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who connected nan eve of his sojourn had powerfully defended Leo and criticized Trump’s attacks.

“Attacking him for illustration that aliases criticizing what he does seems a spot unusual to me, to opportunity nan least,” Parolin said Wednesday.

After nan meetings, nan U.S. State Department said that Rubio and Parolin discussed “ongoing humanitarian efforts successful nan Western Hemisphere and efforts to execute a durable bid successful nan Middle East. The chat reflected nan enduring business betwixt nan United States and nan Holy See successful advancing belief freedom.”

In a abstracted connection astir nan assemblage pinch Leo, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said that nan 2 discussed nan business successful nan Middle East and nan Western Hemisphere. “The gathering underscored nan beardown narration betwixt nan United States and nan Holy See and their shared committedness to promoting bid and quality dignity,” he said.

The Vatican, for its part, said that during Rubio’s meetings pinch some Leo and Parolin, “the shared committedness to fostering bully bilateral relations betwixt nan Holy See and nan United States of America was reaffirmed.”

It said nan 2 sides exchanged views connected nan existent events “with peculiar attraction to countries marked by war, governmental tensions, and difficult humanitarian situations, arsenic good arsenic connected nan request to activity tirelessly successful favour of peace.”

Rubio besides has meetings Friday pinch Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Those meetings mightiness not beryllium overmuch easier for Washington’s apical diplomat, fixed some person powerfully defended Leo against Trump’s attacks and person criticized nan Iran warfare arsenic forbidden — drafting nan president’s ire.

A ngo to soft ties

The tensions began erstwhile Trump lashed retired astatine Leo connected societal media past month, saying nan pope was soft connected crime and coercion for comments astir nan administration’s migration policies and deportations arsenic good arsenic nan Iran war. Leo past said that God doesn’t perceive to nan prayers of those who costs war.

Later, Trump posted a societal media image appearing to liken himself to Jesus Christ, which was deleted aft a backlash. He has refused to apologize to Leo and has sought to explicate distant nan station by saying that he thought nan image was a practice of him arsenic a doctor.

Rubio said that Trump’s caller criticisms of Leo were rooted successful his guidance to Iran perchance obtaining a atomic weapon, which he said could beryllium utilized against millions of Catholics and different Christians.

Leo has ne'er said Iran should get atomic weapons and that nan Catholic Church “for years has spoken retired against each atomic weapons, truthful location is nary uncertainty there.”

“The ngo of nan religion is to preach nan Gospel, to preach peace. If personification wants to knock maine for announcing nan Gospel, fto him do it pinch nan truth,” Leo said precocious Tuesday, aft Trump again accused him of being “OK” pinch Iran having a atomic weapon.

By Thursday, tensions seemed to person eased.

Rubio gave Leo a mini crystal shot paperweight. He acknowledged Leo’s known allegiance to nan Chicago White Sox, saying “you’re a shot guy,” but noted that nan shot had nan seal of nan State Department connected it.

“What to get personification who has everything?” Rubio joked arsenic he gave Leo nan paperweight.

Leo, for his part, gave Rubio a pen apparently made of oliva wood — “olive being of people nan works of peace,” Leo said — pinch his overgarment of arms connected it and a image book of Vatican artworks.

Trump besides has criticized Meloni and different NATO friends for a deficiency of support for nan Iran war, precocious announcing plans to retreat thousands of American troops from Germany successful nan coming months.

Vatican seen arsenic consenting to person dialogue

Giampiero Gramaglia, erstwhile caput of nan ANSA news agency and its onetime Washington correspondent, said that he didn’t expect overmuch to travel retired of Rubio’s sojourn for Italian aliases Vatican relations. He, and different Italian commentators, judge Rubio alternatively was looking to soft complete relations pinch nan pope for his ain governmental ambitions, arsenic good arsenic nan upcoming midterm U.S. legislature elections and 2028 statesmanlike race.

“I uncertainty Rubio has nan domiciled of conciliator for Trump,” he told Italy’s Foreign Press Association. “I person nan cognition that Rubio’s ngo is much astir himself” and his governmental ambitions arsenic a salient Catholic Republican.

The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, undersecretary successful nan Vatican’s civilization office, said that Rubio’s ngo wasn’t to “convert” nan pope to Trump’s side. Rather, Washington “has travel to admit — implicitly but legibly — that (Leo’s) sound carries weight successful nan world that cannot simply beryllium dismissed.”

“The business created by President Trump’s remarks required a high-level, nonstop intervention, conducted successful nan due connection of diplomacy: a semantic corrective to a communicative of frontal conflict pinch nan church,” he wrote successful an effort this week.

Cuba is besides connected nan agenda

Rubio said that topics different than nan Iran warfare were connected nan schedule for nan Vatican visit, including Cuba. The Holy See is peculiarly concerned astir nan Trump administration’s threats of imaginable subject action location pursuing its January ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has said often that Cuba could beryllium “next,” and moreover suggested that erstwhile nan Iran warfare is over, naval assets deployed successful nan Middle East could return to nan United States by measurement of Cuba.

Rubio is nan boy of Cuban immigrants and a longtime Cuba hawk.

“We gave Cuba $6 cardinal of humanitarian aid, but evidently they won’t fto america administer it,” Rubio said. “We distributed it done nan church. We’d for illustration to do more.”

Winfield and Lee constitute for nan Associated Press. Lee reported from Washington.