Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he has “a lot to talk about” with Pope Leo XIV in their upcoming meeting but that his trip to the Vatican on Thursday is not related to President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the Holy Father.
Rubio was asked by a reporter during a news conference on May 5 whether the May 7 meeting is an attempt to “smooth things over” with Leo after Trump called him “weak on crime” and “weak on nuclear weapons” and falsely accused him of wanting Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The secretary said this is not the reason for the meeting, but instead it is “a trip we had planned from before.” He acknowledged “we had some stuff that happened” but said there is “a lot to talk about with the Vatican.”
“The pope just returned from a trip to Africa, where the Church is growing very vibrantly, and we have shared concerns about religious freedom in different parts of the world,” Rubio said. “We’d love to talk to them about that.”
Rubio added that the U.S. gave $6 million of humanitarian aid to Cuba, which was distributed by the Church, and “we’d like to do more” with that partnership.
“We’re willing to give more humanitarian aid to Cuba, by the way, distributed through the Church, but the Cuban regime has to allow us to do it,” he said.
A reporter also asked Rubio about Trump’s more recent comment about Leo on May 4. On “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” the president again accused Leo of holding the view that “it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon” and added: “I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.”
In response, Rubio said the president’s position is that “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon because they would use it against places that have a lot of Catholics, including Christians and others for that matter.”
“[Trump] doesn’t understand why anybody — leave aside the pope — the president, and I for that matter, I think most people, I cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.
Although Leo has urged diplomacy in Iran as opposed to war, the Holy Father has not said he supports Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. Rather, the pope has spoken out strongly against nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
Rubio accused Iran of “holding the whole world hostage” by refusing to let ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran threatened to block all ships from passing through the strait without express permission from its government following the American and Israeli attack. The U.S. is now blockading every ship that coordinates with Iran.
“What do you think they would do if they had a nuclear weapon?” Rubio said. “They would hold the world hostage with that nuclear weapon.”
Rubio was also asked about the upcoming papal visit by an Italian journalist. He similarly said he plans to discuss “the destruction of religious liberty, the persecution of Christian minorities, and also the challenges that are being faced by Christians in Africa, where the pope just recently visited.”
“So we have a lot to talk about with them and I engage with them quite a bit on that front, so the trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage with them and other secretaries of state have done that in the past,” he said.
“The pope is obviously the vicar of Christ … but he’s also the head of a nation-state and it’s an organization that has a presence in over a hundred-something countries around the world and we engage with the Vatican quite a bit because they’re present in many different places,” Rubio said.
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