U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Vatican on Thursday, holding talks with Pope Leo in a meeting described as diplomatically sensitive following growing tensions between the Vatican and the administration of President Donald Trump.
Rubio spent about 2½ hours inside the Vatican before departing under tight security, according to officials and eyewitness accounts.
He first met privately with Pope Leo before engaging in wider discussions with senior Vatican officials, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s top diplomat.
Neither the Vatican nor the U.S. State Department immediately released details of the discussions.
The meeting between Rubio and Pope Leo marked the first encounter between the pontiff and a senior Trump administration official in nearly a year and appeared to run longer than scheduled.
The Pope reportedly arrived 40 minutes late for a subsequent appointment with Vatican staff, later thanking them for their patience.
Photographs released by the Vatican showed Rubio and Pope Leo exchanging greetings before sitting down at the pontiff’s desk in the Apostolic Palace.
Pope Leo, the first American to lead the Roman Catholic Church, has recently drawn criticism from President Donald Trump over his remarks on global conflicts, particularly the ongoing war involving Iran.
The Pope has also spoken out against hardline immigration policies, placing him at odds with key positions of the Trump administration.
Tensions escalated after Trump publicly criticised the pontiff, including claims that the Pope was “endangering Catholics” by opposing the war—remarks that drew strong reactions from Christian leaders across the political spectrum.
Following the controversy, Pope Leo reaffirmed his position on peace and nuclear disarmament, stressing that the Church’s mission is rooted in promoting peace and opposing nuclear weapons.
“The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace,” the Pope said. “The Church has spoken out for years against all nuclear arms, on that there is no doubt.”
Earlier on Thursday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also met with Pope Leo at the Vatican, discussing global cooperation and efforts to prevent international instability.
Tusk later told journalists that sustained cooperation among nations and leaders of goodwill remained essential to preventing global chaos.
“It is still possible that the world does not have to descend into chaos, if good people, people of goodwill, find one another and act in unity,” he said.
The Vatican visit by Rubio comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions and ongoing debates over the role of religious leadership in global diplomacy.
