Pope Leo celebrates first anniversary as pontiff, meets with Rubio at Vatican
發佈日期: 2026-05-08 21:24
TVB News
Pope Leo XIV is celebrating his first anniversary as pontiff. But U.S. President Donald Trump's continuing criticisms - and Leo's increasingly bold retorts - have complicated the effort and overshadowed Friday's anniversary.
This as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the pontiff at the Vatican on a fence mending mission.
Pope Leo spent the eve of the one-year mark as head of the Catholic church meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio who had come to the Vatican.
AP reporter Nicole Winfield said, "Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent about two and a half hours in the Vatican today. He met first with Pope Leo and then with the Cardinal secretary of state, Petro Parolin. The State Department says that they did discuss the situation in the Middle East and the need for a durable peace, but the real visit was to underscore the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and the Holy See."
"This visit came after weeks of sparring between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo, with Trump criticising Leo's call for peace and dialogue to end the Iran war. By the end of the audience, it appeared that at least the tensions had come down a little bit."
Pope Leo is said to be mild mannered at heart and the friction between the two leaders is said to be a bit out of character for Leo, a reserved 70-year-old Midwestern missionary priest. Last month Pope Leo told journalists on a plane that he did not want to get into a debate with the president.
He said: "I do not look at my role as being political or politician. I don't want to get into a debate with him. I don't think that the message of the gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing. And I will continue to speak out loud against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just a solution to the problems."
This as Leo will visit Naples and Pompeii Friday, the two southern Italian cities were finalising details for the visit.
In Naples, thousands of fences were cordoning the venues of Papal events, Plebiscito square and the Cathedral, and also protecting the route that Pope Leo is expected to take. He will meet with people in Plebiscito square where 30,000 are expected to gather.
