on 13 may Interview On Fox News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reflected on his meeting with Pope Leo XIV on May 7, emphasizing the different vantage points and distinct roles of the church and the nation-state.
In the interview, Rubio acknowledged the Catholic Church’s long-standing position advocating peace and avoidance of war, stating a clear distinction between the role of the Church and the duties and responsibilities of nation states.
Saying that the US also wants peace, Rubio confirmed that the country’s position on the war is “different” because it is “a nation state”.
“For a nation state that is separate from a religious office, for a nation state that is separate from a religious office, there are threats to your security and the well-being of your people that ideally should be addressed through diplomatic means, but there are conflicts and issues in the world that cannot be resolved diplomatically, no matter how hard you try,” Rubio said, pointing to years of failed diplomacy with Iran and other past examples.
He said that despite more than a decade of work to diplomatically resolve Iran’s desire and ambition to pursue a nuclear weapons program, there has been no result.
Recalling World War II, Rubio asked: “For example, what was the diplomatic solution to Adolf Hitler? There was none, right? And unfortunately, that led to the actual war. So I think the field of geopolitics is different.”
Nevertheless, he stressed that Catholics, like him, must balance their faith with their duty to their nation.
Rubio said, “We are obviously guided by our faith, and we are guided by our faith. That’s the compass by which we live our lives.” “We also have an obligation to our country’s national security, and that has to be taken into account. Our primary job is to keep Americans safe. And that’s why we’re involved in Iran. That’s why we’re involved in everything we do around the world.”
Rubio described his meeting with the US Pope as positive and unusually straightforward.
“This is an American Pope. We talked for over an hour. We talked about a lot of topics,” Rubio said.
Rubio’s comments come amid public differences between the Trump administration and the Holy See over ongoing US actions and conflict in Iran.
Before Rubio met with Leo, President Trump told EWTN News that the Secretary of State’s main message should be: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
On May 5, Pope Leo XIV said, “The Church has spoken for years against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt.”
State Department on 8 May Posted a clip of Rubio on X following his meeting with the Pope, in which he said that “of course” he wanted to hear “the perspective of the world’s most important, far-reaching religious leader … what his bishops and others in the Western Hemisphere are hearing, the plight of Christians in Africa … and Lebanon.”
On the subject of the U.S. position on the Iran war, Rubio said, “We are able to take that position and articulate that position and also work collaboratively, as we have been doing for decades with the Vatican, the Catholic Church.”
“We were able to talk about these different areas of the world where they have a presence, where they’re engaged and we are too,” Rubio said.
