Pope Leo XIV will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican on May 7, in a high-level encounter that comes after a period of public strain between the Holy See and President Donald Trump.

The meeting was confirmed by the Holy See Press Office on May 4. According to the US State Department, Rubio is expected to discuss the situation in the Middle East and other shared international concerns with Vatican officials during his visit to Rome.

The audience follows several weeks of unusually sharp rhetoric between the Pope and the Trump camp. In April, Trump attacked Leo on social media after the Pope renewed his appeals for peace amid the US-Israel war with Iran. The president accused him of weakness on crime and foreign policy and later suggested that Leo was too soft in his approach to the Iranian nuclear issue.

Leo rejected that criticism in remarks to journalists earlier this week. He said the Church’s position on nuclear weapons was already well known and insisted that violence must always remain a last resort. He also made clear that he did not intend to enter into a prolonged public quarrel with the US president.

Rubio’s meeting with the Pope will be the second encounter between the two men. They had already met in 2025 after the inauguration Mass of Leo’s pontificate, when US Vice-President JD Vance was also present.

The May 7 schedule in Rome is expected to be a busy one for the Pope. Vatican reporting has also indicated that Leo is due to meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk earlier the same day, before travelling on May 8 to Pompeii and Naples for the first anniversary of his election.

The Rubio audience will therefore be watched closely not only for its diplomatic symbolism, but for what it may reveal about the future tone of relations between Washington and the Holy See. The Vatican has continued to stress peace, dialogue and humanitarian restraint in the Middle East, while the Trump administration has adopted a far more confrontational posture. The meeting offers both sides an opportunity to steady the relationship, even if the underlying differences remain.