In a symbolic step toward resetting strained ties with the Vatican, Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV on Monday to open a new chapter in U.S.-Vatican relations, centred around shared efforts to resolve global conflicts, including the war in Ukraine.
The high-level meeting marks the first formal encounter between the Trump administration and the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, whose peacemaking priorities appear to align with President Donald Trump’s recent diplomatic agenda. The meeting follows the sudden death of Pope Francis last month, one day after a controversial meeting with Vice President Vance.
Pope Leo, in his inaugural Mass on Sunday, made an impassioned appeal for peace across several crisis zones. “Gaza’s surviving children, families, older people are reduced to hunger,” he said. “In Myanmar, unrest has cut short innocent young lives. And Ukraine awaits negotiations for a fair and lasting peace.”
While the Vatican released only a brief statement confirming the papal audience, it said Vance also held “cordial talks” with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, discussing “ecclesial life and religious freedom,” humanitarian law, and peaceful resolutions in war zones.
Images posted by L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s official newspaper, showed a smiling Pope Leo standing beside Vance, holding a Chicago Bears jersey personalized with “Pope Leo XIV”—a light-hearted diplomatic gesture that hinted at warmer relations ahead.
Secretary Rubio, for his part, met Saturday with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican’s envoy on Ukraine, to discuss the Holy See’s role in facilitating peace negotiations. Rubio voiced support for the Vatican as a neutral site for talks between Russia and Ukraine, and as a mediator in the effort to repatriate hundreds of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the conflict.
“We thank the Holy See for its willingness to be involved in this process,” Rubio said. “I think it’s a place that both sides would be comfortable going.”
The Trump administration, seeking to present the president as a global “peacemaker,” has ramped up its diplomatic outreach in recent weeks. Officials point to several efforts that mirror the Vatican’s goals, including a proposed ceasefire in Gaza and Trump’s scheduled calls this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Monday’s meeting represents a key moment of convergence between Washington and the Vatican after years of tension during Pope Francis’s tenure, especially over immigration policy. Vance had previously clashed with Francis over his use of a medieval Catholic doctrine to defend strict border enforcement.
With Leo XIV now seated at the helm of the Catholic Church, U.S. officials hope a renewed spiritual and strategic alliance will bear fruit, not only in Ukraine but in a broader campaign for peace across global conflict zones.
