Vatican City — The Vatican raised “the need to work tirelessly for peace” during talks Thursday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Rome on a visit to resolve the dispute after President Donald Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war.
Both the Vatican and the US State Department stressed that Rubio’s meetings with Liu and the Vatican’s top diplomat underscore strong bilateral relations. But these relations have been strained by Trump’s repeated criticism of Liu’s calls for peace and dialogue to end the US-Israeli war.
Rubio, a devout Catholic, is often asked to tone down or explain Trump’s harsh rhetoric. He met first with Leo, which was complicated at the last minute by Trump’s recent criticism of the Chicago-born pope. During a two-hour visit, Rubio then met with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who on the eve of his visit forcefully defended Liu and criticized Trump’s attacks.
“To attack him like that or criticize what he does seems a little strange to me, to say the least,” Parolin said on Wednesday.
After the meetings, the US State Department said Rubio and Parolin discussed “ongoing humanitarian efforts in the Western Hemisphere and efforts to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East. The discussion reflected the enduring partnership between the United States and the Holy See in promoting religious freedom.”
In a separate statement about the meeting with Liu, US State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said that the two discussed the situation in the Middle East and the Western Hemisphere. He added, “The meeting emphasized the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity.”
For its part, the Vatican said that during Rubio’s meetings with Leo and Parolin, “the shared commitment to strengthening good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America was reaffirmed.”
She said that the two sides exchanged views on current events, “paying special attention to countries characterized by wars, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, as well as the need to work tirelessly for peace.”
Rubio will also hold meetings on Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. These meetings may not be much easier for the top diplomat in Washington, given that they both strongly defended Liu against Trump’s attacks and criticized the Iran war as illegal, angering the president.
Washington had requested a meeting with Rubio, and the Pope was open to continuing the dialogue.
Important to improve relationships
Tensions began when Trump criticized Liu on social media last month, saying the pope was soft on crime and terrorism due to his comments about the administration’s immigration and deportation policies as well as the Iran war. Liu then said that God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.
Trump later posted a photo on social media in which he appeared to liken himself to Jesus Christ, but it was deleted after backlash. He refused to apologize to Liu and sought to explain the post by saying he believed the photo represented him as a doctor.
Rubio said Trump’s recent criticism of Liu was rooted in his opposition to the possibility of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, which he said could be used against millions of Catholics and other Christians.
Liu never said Iran should get nuclear weapons and the Catholic Church “has spoken out for years against all nuclear weapons, so there’s no doubt.”
“The mission of the church is to preach the gospel, to preach peace,” Liu said late Tuesday, after Trump again accused him of being “ok” with Iran having a nuclear weapon. “If someone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the gospel, let them do it right.”
By Thursday, tensions appeared to have eased.
Rubio gave Leo a small crystal football paperweight. He acknowledged Leo’s known loyalty to the Chicago White Sox, saying “You’re a baseball man,” but pointed out that the ball had the State Department’s seal on it.
“What do you get for someone who has everything?” Rubio joked as he gave Leo the paperweight.
For his part, Leo gave Rubio a pen apparently made of olive wood — “Olives, of course, are the plant of peace,” Leo said — with a coat of arms and an illustrated book of Vatican artwork.
Trump has also criticized Meloni and other NATO allies for not supporting the Iran war, and recently announced plans to withdraw thousands of US troops from Germany in the coming months.
The Vatican considers its readiness for dialogue
Giampiero Gramaglia, former head of the Italian news agency ANSA and its Washington correspondent, said he did not expect much from Rubio’s visit regarding Italian relations or the Vatican. He and other Italian commentators believe Rubio was instead looking to improve relations with the pope for the sake of his political ambitions, as well as the upcoming US congressional midterm elections and the 2028 presidential race.
“I doubt that Rubio is playing the role of conciliator for Trump,” he told the Italian Foreign Press Association. “I have a perception that Rubio’s mission is more about himself” and his political ambitions as a prominent Catholic Republican.
The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, undersecretary of the Vatican’s cultural office, said Rubio’s mission was not to “convert” the pope to Trump’s side. Instead, Washington “acknowledges – implicitly but legibly – that (Assad’s) voice carries weight in the world that cannot simply be ignored.”
“The situation created by President Trump’s statements requires direct, high-level intervention, conducted in the appropriate diplomatic language: a semantic corrective to the narrative of direct conflict with the church,” he wrote in an article this week.
Cuba is also on the agenda
Rubio said topics other than the Iran war were on the agenda for the Vatican visit, including Cuba. The Holy See is particularly concerned about the Trump administration’s threats to take possible military action there after the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Trump has repeatedly said that Cuba could be “next,” and has suggested that once the Iran war ends, naval assets deployed in the Middle East could return to the United States via Cuba.
Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants and a longtime Cuban hawk.
“We have provided Cuba with $6 million in humanitarian aid, but it is clear that they will not allow us to distribute it,” Rubio said. “We distribute them through the church. We would like to do more.”
___
AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee reports from Washington.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through an AP collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.