US Secretary of State says Vatican meeting planned before Trump rift with Pope

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday (May 05) that the timing of his upcoming visit to the Vatican is not tied to a rift between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo but said that “there’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican.”

Rubio is scheduled to meet with the pope on Thursday (May 07) after Trump took a fresh pot-shot at the pope for criticizing the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

“No, I mean it's a trip we had planned from before, and obviously we had some stuff that happened,” Rubio told reporters at a White House briefing.

Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch said that Rubio expects to have a “frank” meeting with Pope Leo.

Rubio told reporters he expected discussions with Pope Leo to cover “shared concerns about religious freedom” around the world and humanitarian aid to Cuba.

Washington was willing to give more aid to Cuba to be distributed through the church, Rubio said.

Trump has repeatedly disparaged the first U.S.-born pope in recent weeks, drawing a backlash from Christian leaders across the political spectrum.

Rubio is Catholic, as is Vice President JD Vance. The two met Leo a year ago after attending his inaugural mass -- the Trump administration's only previous known cabinet-level meetings with the pope.

Leo, who marks his first year as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church on Friday, maintained a relatively low profile on the global stage in the first months of his papacy but has emerged in recent weeks as a firm critic of the war on Iran.

The pope has also sharply criticized the Trump administration's hardline anti-immigration policies. And he has called for dialogue between the U.S. and Catholic-majority Cuba, which has suffered frequent blackouts owing to U.S. sanctions intended to put pressure on its one-party Communist government.

-Ashraf Fahim/Reuters