This photo taken and handout on May 7, 2026 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during a private audience with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in The Vatican. (Credit: Photo by Handout / Vatican media / AFP)
Talks between Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio following weeks of Vatican-White House tensions were "friendly and constructive," a State Department official told AFP.
"The conversations today were friendly and constructive," the official said after Rubio, a devout Catholic who has sought to play down the rift, met Leo and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
Talks between Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio following weeks of Vatican-White House tensions were "friendly and constructive," a State Department official told AFP.
"The conversations today were friendly and constructive," the official said after Rubio, a devout Catholic who has sought to play down the rift, met Leo and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
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