US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to travel to Italy this week to meet with Pope Leo, a Vatican source said, as President Donald Trump’s attacks against the pontiff have drawn criticism across the political spectrum.
The meeting, the first known in-person encounter between Leo and a US cabinet official in nearly a year, is expected to take place on Thursday, said a senior source familiar with the pope’s plans.
The pope, who is American, emerged in recent weeks as an outspoken critic of the US-Israeli led war with Iran, after previously criticising the Trump administration’s hardline anti-immigration policies.
Trump sharply criticised Leo on social media several times in April, at one point calling the pontiff “terrible”, in attacks that drew wide attention while Leo was on a four-nation Africa tour.
