Marco Rubio to meet Pope Leo amid US-Europe tensions
Updated
Updated · Reuters · May 3
Marco Rubio to meet Pope Leo amid US-Europe tensions
16 articles · Updated · Reuters · May 3
The expected Thursday Vatican meeting would be Leo's first known in-person encounter with a US cabinet official in nearly a year, ahead of the first anniversary of his papacy on Friday.
Rubio is also expected in Rome for talks with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Italy's foreign and defence ministers, as Washington seeks to calm strains after Trump's attacks on Leo and Giorgia Meloni.
The visit comes as Leo has criticised the US-Israeli war with Iran and US immigration policy, while troop cuts in Germany and tariff disputes have added to wider transatlantic friction.
As Italy defies US war policy, can a single diplomatic visit mend the deeply fractured Western alliance?
When a US-born Pope and a US President clash over war, where does global moral authority truly lie?