After clash between Trump and Pope Leo XIV, Marco Rubio to visit the Vatican this week
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week, an Italian government source stated on Sunday, weeks after a clash between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV.
TL;DR
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week.
- The visit follows a public clash between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV.
- Rubio will meet with Vatican counterparts Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Italy's Antonio Tajani.
- A meeting with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto is also reported.
- Trump had criticized Pope Leo XIV as 'weak' and 'terrible for foreign policy' for opposing the war in the Middle East.
- Trump also criticized Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a key ally.
- Meloni considered Trump's attacks on the pontiff 'unacceptable'.