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Pope Leo Marks First Year With Peace Appeal in Pompeii After Rubio Talks

The anniversary message signals a strategy of pastoral travel and quiet diplomacy to cool a rift with Washington.

Pope Leo XIV, left, meets with U.S. Secretary Of State Marco Rubio on May 7, 2026, in Vatican City.
Image
Leo gives a speech criticizing world leaders for what he described as spending billions on "killing and devastation," at a meeting in St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon, on April 16.
FILE - Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

Overview

  • Marking his first year on Friday in Pompeii, Leo XIV urged world leaders to calm tensions, reduce hatred, and resist the normalization of war.
  • A Thursday Vatican meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ended with a pledge to improve relations after weeks of public attacks by President Trump.
  • The Vatican set a June 6–12 Spain trip that includes Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where the pope will meet migrants and local aid groups on key Atlantic crossing points.
  • Official readouts stressed work for peace and better ties, which veteran diplomats read as a sign relations remain strained rather than a breakthrough.
  • Forthcoming stops centered on migration, including the Canary Islands and Lampedusa on July 4, will spotlight deadly routes that an NGO says claimed over 3,000 lives in 2025 and coincide with Spain’s new migrant amnesty program.