VATICAN CITY (AP) 鈥� U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened a fence-mending visit to the Vatican on Thursday after President Donald and the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran angered the Holy See and sparked ongoing sparring between the two American leaders.
Rubio, a practicing Catholic, had an audience scheduled with Leo, which was complicated at the last minute by . Leo has pushed back, calling out Trump鈥檚 misrepresentations of his views on Iran and nuclear weapons and insisting that he is merely preaching the biblical message of peace.
Rubio was also due to meet with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who on the eve of his visit strongly defended Leo and criticized Trump鈥檚 attacks in understated diplomatic terms. 鈥淎ttacking him like that or criticizing what he does seems a bit strange to me, to say the least,鈥� Parolin said Wednesday.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP鈥檚 earlier story follows below.
VATICAN CITY (AP) 鈥� Secretary of State Marco Rubio is and Italy on a fence-mending visit after President Donald and the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran have alienated those allies.
Rubio, a practicing Catholic, will have an audience with Leo on Thursday, which was complicated at the last minute by . Leo has pushed back, calling out Trump鈥檚 misrepresentations of his views on Iran and nuclear weapons and insisting that he is merely preaching the biblical message of peace.
Meetings Friday with Premier Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani might not be much easier for America’s top diplomat, given both have strongly defended Leo against Trump鈥檚 attacks and have criticized the Iran war as illegal 鈥� .
Rubio insisted this week that the visit had been in the works for a while but that 鈥渙bviously we had some stuff that happened.鈥�
Rubio looks to smooth ties as Trump lashes out at the pope
The tensions began when Trump lashed out at Leo on social media last month, saying the pope was soft on crime and terrorism for comments about the administration鈥檚 immigration policies and deportations as well as the Iran war. Leo then said God doesn鈥檛 listen to the prayers of those who wage war.
Later, Trump posted a social media image appearing to liken himself to Jesus Christ, which was deleted after backlash. He has to Leo and has sought to explain away the post by saying he thought the image was of him as a doctor.
Rubio said Trump鈥檚 recent criticisms of Leo were rooted in his opposition to Iran potentially obtaining a nuclear weapon, which he said could be used against millions of Catholics and other Christians.
Trump 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 understand why anybody 鈥� leave aside the pope 鈥� the president and I, for that matter, I think most people, I cannot understand why anyone would think that it鈥檚 a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,鈥� Rubio told reporters Tuesday at the White House.
Leo has never said Iran should obtain nuclear weapons and that the Catholic Church 鈥渇or years has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt there.鈥�
鈥淭he mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth,鈥� Leo said late Tuesday, after Trump again accused him of being 鈥淥K鈥� with Iran having a nuclear weapon.
Leo noted that the Catholic Church has always permitted countries to act in self-defense and acknowledged the church’s 鈥渏ust war鈥� tradition.
But with the advance of the age of nuclear weapons, 鈥渢he whole concept of war has to be reevaluated in terms today,” he said. 鈥淎nd I always believe that it鈥檚 much better to enter into dialogue than to look for arms.鈥�
Rubio has often been called on to . Trump also has criticized Meloni and other for a lack of support for the Iran war, recently announcing plans to in the coming months.
Vatican seen as willing to have dialogue
Giampiero Gramaglia, former head of the ANSA news agency and its onetime Washington correspondent, said he didn鈥檛 expect much to come out of Rubio’s visit for Italian or Vatican relations. He, and other Italian commentators, believe Rubio instead was looking to smooth over relations with the pope for his own political ambitions as well as the upcoming midterm congressional elections and 2028 presidential race.
鈥淚 doubt Rubio has the role of conciliator for Trump,鈥� he told Italy’s Foreign Press Association. 鈥淚 have the perception that Rubio鈥檚 mission is more about himself鈥� and his political ambitions as a prominent Catholic Republican.
The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, undersecretary in the Vatican鈥檚 culture office, said Rubio鈥檚 mission wasn鈥檛 to 鈥渃onvert鈥� the pope to Trump鈥檚 side. Rather, Washington 鈥渉as come to acknowledge 鈥� implicitly but legibly 鈥� that (Leo鈥檚) voice carries weight in the world that cannot simply be dismissed.鈥�
鈥淭he situation created by President Trump鈥檚 remarks required a high-level, direct intervention, conducted in the proper language of diplomacy: a semantic corrective to a narrative of frontal conflict with the church,鈥� he wrote in an essay this week.
Journalist Massimo Franco, writing in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, said the Vatican’s decision to not cancel the pope鈥檚 audience with Rubio after Trump鈥檚 latest broadside was evidence of its willingness to keep open dialogue.
But relations with the Meloni government, which is facing widespread Italian public opposition to the Iran war, are not so easily smoothed over. 鈥淜eeping the alliance with the United States firm while criticizing the president is showing itself to be increasingly difficult,鈥� Franco wrote Wednesday.
Farian Sabahi, a professor of contemporary history at the University of Insubria who is of Iranian descent, said Meloni would be wise to more strongly condemn the war for the sake of putting Italy in a good position to rebuild Iran later. Italy is the No. 2 European Union trading partner with Iran, after Germany, working within EU sanctions.
鈥淔rom a purely opportunistic standpoint, it would actually be advisable to condemn the Israeli-U.S. aggression precisely to give Italian companies the opportunity to do business, given that there are many other players on the international stage ready to enter the Iranian market,鈥� she said.
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鈥檚 there following its January ouster of Venezuelan President Nicol谩s Maduro.
Trump has said frequently that Cuba could be 鈥渘ext鈥� and even suggested that once the war with Iran is over, naval assets deployed in the Middle East could return to the United States by .
Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants and a longtime Cuba hawk.
鈥淲e gave Cuba $6 million of humanitarian aid, but obviously they won鈥檛 let us distribute it,” Rubio said. 鈥淲e distributed it through the church. We鈥檇 like to do more.鈥�
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Lee reported from Washington.
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