Secretary of State Marco Rubio is bracing for a “frank” conversation with Pope Leo XIV when Rubio heads to Rome later this week amid friction between the Bishop of Rome and President Trump over immigration and the US war with Iran, the American ambassador to the Holy See said Tuesday.
Rubio, a practicing Catholic, will visit Italy and Vatican City Wednesday through Friday to discuss the Middle East and Western Hemisphere to discuss the Middle East and other pressing issues.
“Nations have disagreements, and I think one of the ways that you work through those is … through fraternity and authentic dialogue,” Ambassador Brian Burch told reporters, according to Reuters.
“I think the secretary is coming here in that spirit,” he added. “To have a frank conversation about US policy, to engage in dialogue.”
Burch also rejected the notion that “somehow there’s some deep rift” between Washington and the Vatican. Rubio similarly stressed that the trip had long been in the works before Trump’s high-profile clash with the pope.
“No, I mean, it’s a trip we had from before, and obviously we had some stuff that happened,” Rubio told reporters at the White House press briefing Tuesday.
“There’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican. I’ll give you one example. The pope just returned from a trip to Africa, where the church is growing very vibrantly, and we have shared concerns about religious freedom,” the Catholic secretary of state added.
Pope Leo, the first-ever American-born pontiff, has frequently clashed with Trump — who also sparred with his predecessor, Pope Francis.
“The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and I don’t think that’s very good,” Trump complained to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday.
“I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people,” Trump went on. “But I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Last month, the president slammed Leo as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” while heaping praise on the pope’s brother, Louis Prevost, a self-styled “MAGA type.”
Pope Leo has insisted that “I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly.”
Recently, Leo slighted the US when he told a reporter that he would “probably” prefer to see Peru win the soccer World Cup over the country of his birth.
The 70-year-old has performed extensive missionary work in Peru and holds dual citizenship there.
Rubio is also scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, long believed to be the European leader closest with Trump.
However, Meloni has stood by the pope against the president, calling Trump’s swipes against him “unacceptable.”
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