U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday, an audience that follows President Donald Trump’s criticism of the pontiff over his comments about the Iran War.
The meeting between Rubio and the pope comes after weeks of Trump and the pontiff trading barbs over U.S. foreign policy. In his Palm Sunday homily, Leo declared that Jesus “rejects war” and that “no one can use Him to justify war.”
Trump reiterated his criticism of the pontiff during an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Monday, saying: “The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think that’s very good. I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics, a lot of people, but I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Hewitt said that instead of injecting himself into foreign policy and politics, he wished the pope would focus on the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide, such as Jimmy Lai, the Catholic Hong Kong-born media mogul who has been imprisoned by the Chinese government.
“I want the pope to talk about Jimmy Lai, and I want you to bring him home,” Hewitt told the president. “That would be a good deal.”
Trump’s remarks, highlighting his disapproval of the pontiff’s view on the Iran conflict, come weeks after he outlined his concerns in a Truth Social post, where he described Leo as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” he stated at the time. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country.”
Trump’s initial criticism of Leo followed the pontiff’s rejection of the idea that God was supporting U.S. military actions in Iran. “God does not bless any conflict,” the pontiff wrote in an X post last month. “Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
He continued, “Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.”
Trump’s most recent comments about the pontiff come as Rubio visits both Italy and the Vatican on May 6-8, where, according to the State Department, “Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere.”
Rubio provided additional details about his trip to the Vatican at a White House press briefing Tuesday. When asked if the forthcoming trip constituted an attempt to smooth things over with the pope, given their rhetoric, Rubio responded by pointing out that “It’s a trip we had planned from before.”
Rubio also pushed back on the idea that Trump believes the pope “is endangering a lot of Catholics as a result of his rhetoric around the Iran War.” He told reporters, “I don’t think that’s an accurate description of what he said.”
“I think what the president basically said is that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon because they would use it against places that have a lot of Catholics and Christians and others, for that matter,” Rubio asserted.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com