Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off a two-day visit to Vatican City and Italy Thursday by meeting Pope Leo XIV, days after President Trump claimed the first American-born pontiff was “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.” Leo has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration over its hardline immigration policies and, more recently, over the war in Iran. The president has responded aggressively, attacking the Bishop of Rome last month as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” “The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview broadcast Monday. “And I don’t think that’s very good. I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is greeted by a Vatican official upon arrival at the St. Damasus courtyard to meet with Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, on May 7, 2026.…