(Patria) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week, a source in the Italian government said yesterday, just weeks after a clash between Donald Trump and Pope Leo.
Rubio, who is Catholic, is expected to meet with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the source told AFP.
Italian media report that during the visit on Thursday and Friday, he will also meet with Defense Minister Guido Crosetto.
The meetings come weeks after extraordinary criticism from US President Trump directed at Pope Leo XIV over the Catholic leader's anti-war rhetoric.
Trump also criticized Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of his closest European allies, as lacking courage after she defended the Pope.
Italian media on Sunday presented Rubio's visit as a meeting to "defrost" relations.
Since taking office as the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis, Leo has criticized the Trump administration for its crackdown on immigrants.
His frequent anti-war rhetoric, especially after the US-Israeli attack on Iran, has provoked Trump's anger. On April 7, Leo declared Trump's threat to destroy Iran "unacceptable" and called on Americans to demand that US lawmakers "work for peace."
Trump then sharply criticized the Pope on social media as "WEAK on crime and terrible for foreign policy." Trump also said he was "not a big fan of Pope Leo" and "doesn't want a Pope who thinks it's okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons."
Meloni condemned these criticisms as "unacceptable," which led Trump to turn his fire on her.
"I am shocked by her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," the US President said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
He also accused Meloni, a far-right leader who has sought to act as a bridge between different American and European stances, of not helping the United States with NATO.
Trump threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy, saying Rome "has been of no help" in the war with Iran.
He made a similar threat to Spain, and the Pentagon announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US soldiers from Germany.
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