Washington/US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Italy this week to meet with Pope Leo XIV, in a meeting that will include the war in Iran and issues related to Latin America on the agenda.
“Secretary Rubio will meet with the leadership of the Holy See to analyze the situation in the Middle East and common interests in the Western Hemisphere. The meetings with his Italian counterparts will focus on shared security interests and strategic alignment,” the State Department detailed in a statement.
The visit to the Vatican and Italy seeks to redirect the relationship after President Donald Trump’s harsh attacks against Leo XIV for his condemnation of the war in Iran, and the Republican’s statements against Meloni, one of his main allies in Europe, who came out in defense of the pontiff in the face of criticism from the American leader.
Meetings with Italian counterparts will focus on shared security interests and strategic alignment
The Vatican is also a key actor in mediation with Cuba, at a time when the Trump Administration intensifies its pressure strategy against the regimewith measures aimed at weakening the Government of Miguel Díaz-Canel and forcing a political change on the Island.
The Holy See has intervened in previous moments of détente between the Cuban Government and the United States, such as the agreement for the release of 51 political prisoners Cubans last March. In February, the American pontiff had made a call to Washington and Havana to carry out “a sincere and effective dialogue to avoid violence and any action that could increase the suffering of the Cuban people.”
The meeting will take place on Thursday, according to the Holy See. With this trip, the head of US diplomacy, of Cuban and Catholic origin, will have visited Italy and the Vatican at least three times as the Republican president’s top diplomat.
Leo XIV, the first American pontiff in history and who, before his election, a year ago, had criticized Trump’s immigration policies, has maintained a distant clash with the Republican president due to the war in Iran.
