The top US diplomat, Marco Rubio, went to the Vatican yesterday for talks with the first US pope, Leo XIV, against the backdrop of sharp tensions between the White House and the Vatican. The US Secretary of State’s visit comes after Trump’s ex‑ traordinary criticism of Leo, the head of the world’s 1.4 bil‑ lion Catholics, over his antiwar stance.
AFP reporters saw Rubio’s motorcade driving up Via del‑ la Conciliazione — the grand avenue leading up to St Peter’s Basilica — before entering the Vatican. Rubio, a devout Catholic, has sought to play down the rift ahead of the private audi‑ ence, which will be followed by talks with Vatican Secre‑ tary of State Pietro Parolin.
The US ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, told reporters this week it would likely be a “frank conversa‑ tion”. For the Vatican’s part, “we’ll listen to him”, Parolin told reporters on Wednesday, noting that Washington initi‑ ated the meeting. The Trump administra‑ tion had celebrated the elec‑ tion one year ago — May 8, 2025 — of Leo, the first US pontiff in history.
But its relations with the Holy See have since sharply deteriorated. In an unprecedented at‑ tack, Trump last month took to social media to call the pope “WEAK on crime, and terrible for foreign policy”. His remarks came after Leo called for peace in the Middle East war launched by Israel and the United States. He condemned a threat by Trump to destroy Iranian civilisation as “truly unac‑ ceptable”.
Before leaving, Rubio said the trip had been planned be‑ fore the clash, “and obviously we had some stuff that hap‑ pened”. “There’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican,” he told re‑ porters at the White House, noting particularly the is‑ sue of religious freedom, on threats of violence as fac‑ tors that undermine public confidence and pose risks to national security.
He reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to deliver‑ ing peaceful, credible, and transparent elections that reflect the will of the Nige‑ rian people. The IGP on his part as‑ sured the Commission of the preparedness of the police to provide a secure environ‑ ment for the conduct of the 2027 general elections.
IGP Disu disclosed that the force had already begun strategic threat assessments and intelligence mapping nationwide to identify flash‑ points and emerging security risks ahead of the elections.
According to him, issues such as political violence, the proliferation of illegal arms, voter intimidation, cyber ma‑ nipulation, misinformation, and attacks on electoral in‑ frastructure, had been identi‑ fied as priority concerns re‑ quiring proactive attention.
He added that officers selected for election duties would undergo intensive training on electoral security management, human rights compliance, rules of engagement, crowd control and ethical conduct. which the Vatican and Wash‑ ington agree. At a Vatican event on Wednesday, Parolin said: “I imagine we’ll talk about ev‑ erything that’s happened in recent days — we can’t avoid touching on these topics.”
But he said they would also discuss international issues, including Latin America, Cuba and Lebanon. The Holy See has long played an active role in Cu‑ ban diplomacy, while Rubio — a Cuban-American — has led the US administration’s efforts to pressure the com‑ munist government. Leo also knows Latin America well, having spent two decades as a missionary in Peru, even acquiring Peru‑ vian citizenship.
