The Holy See Press Office issued a statement on Monday confirming that Pope Leo XIV has scheduled an audience with visiting American Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take place on May 7.
Reports on Sunday evening, citing anonymous sources, revealed that Rubio was planning a visit to Italy and the Vatican, reportedly to mend fences with the governments of both countries after President Donald Trump criticized the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for insufficient support for the Iran war and condemned the earthly head of the Catholic Church for being “WEAK on Crime.” One report suggested that Rubio, who is a Cuban-American Catholic, will also address the dire situation that the Caribbean island is facing after nearly 70 years of communist devastation.
The pope has rejected media attempts to frame American-Vatican relations as poor and insisted that he is not seeking a feud with President Trump, to which the White House responded positively.
According to Vatican News, Secretary of State Rubio will visit the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on May 7. The Holy See did not offer any more information on what the two will talk about, but did note that Pope Leo met with Rubio almost exactly one year ago, shortly after the first American-born pope was elected to run the Vatican following the death of Pope Francis.
The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera first reported the Rubio visit on Sunday, describing it as a move to improve relations with both Rome and the Holy See. President Trump published an extended screed in April condemning the pope, allegedly claiming that the Vatican was promoting “fear of the Trump Administration” and decrying the pope as “WEAK on Crime.” Trump also published an artificial intelligence-generated photo appearing to depict himself as Jesus, which he deleted and claimed he believed to be an image of himself as a doctor. Prior to this, the pope had made a variety of public statements appearing to align with the president’s foreign policy, such as elevating concerns about the genocidal persecution of Christians in Nigeria and discouraging mass migration in the Middle East.
The pope later told reporters that comments he had delivered that the media had incorrectly interpreted as targeting President Trump were written long before the perceived disruptions and that he was not “trying to debate… the president” as it was “not in my interest at all.”
Similarly, the Italian government does not appear to be seeking confrontation with Washington. The ongoing war in Iran has caused some discord between Washington and Rome, as reports surfaced that Italy did not allow U.S. bombers to land at Italian airbases on their way to the conflict zone. President Trump threatened to pull out American troops from Italy, complaining that the country “has not been any help to us” in the current conflict.
In an interview with Breitbart News, conducted in February but published this weekend, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini praised President Trump for having “courage” to promote policies unpopular with European bureaucrats and leftist media outlets.
“I thank President Trump for the courage and for the cultural foundation he is giving to an economic and political project, because it is fundamental to give a cultural, value-based and ideal foundation — otherwise everything passes,” Salvini said. He noted that his government’s officials were “the only ones who openly supported President Trump, both in the first and in the second term” and he hoped to visit America soon.
During public events on Sunday leading the traditional Regina Caeli, Pope Leo did not offer any indication of preparing for a meeting with America’s top diplomat. He offered a brief political statement in defense of persecuted journalists around the world in honor of World Press Freedom Day in which he generally discouraged elitism.
“Dear friends, in the old world in which we are still journeying, what attracts attention are exclusive places, experiences accessible only to a few, and the privilege of entering where others cannot,” the pope observed. “In the new world into which the risen One leads us, however, what is most valuable is within everyone’s reach. Yet this does not make it any less attractive.”
The timing of the visit corresponds with the anniversary of Pope Leo’s election and some reports indicate that Rubio will address issues not directly related to bilateral ties. According to an anonymous source speaking to USA Today, Rubio is expected to discuss the current situation in Cuba where the communist regime has dramatically escalated violent persecution against dissidents, and especially Christians. The persecution of Christians has corresponded with a substantial growth in a variety of Christian denominations in the past decade and overt inclusion of Christian themes in pro-democracy events.
Under Pope Francis, the Vatican intervened on behalf of the Castro dynasty that rules Cuba, helping mediate an agreement under former President Barack Obama to expand money flows to the regime. Pope Francis also refused to condemn Cuba’s human rights atrocities and sent a heartfelt message to the regime lamenting the death of late mass murderer Fidel Castro. Pope Leo has yet to make any major announcements or commentary on Cuba, nor has he offered any indication that he is interested in continuing Pope Francis’s policies toward the island nation. The Castro regime invited Pope Leo to visit shortly after his election, but the Holy See has not publicly indicated any response to that invitation.
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