Rubio meets Pope as US underlines Vatican ties

The US State Department underlined its "strong relationship" with the Vatican on Thursday after talks between top diplomat Marco Rubio and Pope Leo XIV, following Donald Trump's astonishing attack on the first US pontiff.

"The conversations today were friendly and constructive," a State Department official told AFP following the US secretary of state's private audience at the Vatican.

Rubio's visit came after US President Trump accused Leo, the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, of being "weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy" after he made critical comments about the Middle East war.

After the talks, US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Leo and Rubio discussed the Middle East as well as their mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere -- a phrase used by the US to refer to Latin America.

"The meeting underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity," he said.