Pope Leo exchanges gifts with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during an audience at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on May 7, 2026.Pool photo by Simone Risoluti via Vatican Media/Getty Images

Rubio resets US-Vatican relationship in meeting with Pope Leo XIV – POLITICO

· POLITICO

VATICAN CITY — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio eased tensions between the White House and the Catholic Church after meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.

“Marco Rubio’s been given the assignment to go to the Vatican and try to clean up relations,” Joe Donnelly, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See under President Joe Biden, told POLITICO.

It’s a mission he seems to have accomplished.