Rubio to visit Rome, meet Pope Leo after Trump row

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Pope Leo on a trip to Rome this week, in the wake of the pontiff's clash with President Donald Trump, a Vatican source said Sunday.

The source confirmed Italian media reports about the meeting, which newspapers said would take place on Thursday in an attempt to "thaw" relations.

It comes just weeks after Trump's extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo XIV over the Catholic leader's anti-war rhetoric.

An Italian government source earlier told AFP that Rubio would also meet Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Rubio had asked for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump's closest European allies, whom he turned on after she defended the pope, the source added.

Media reports said he was also due to meet Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, amid a deepening rift in transatlantic ties over the Middle East war.

Leo, 70, will on Friday mark one year as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, after being elected by cardinals on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis.

As the first ever pope from the United States, his words have arguably carried more weight in Washington than previous pontiffs -- and he has used them, criticising notably the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.

But it was the pontiff's increasing anti-war rhetoric, particularly following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, that triggered Trump's ire.