US Secretary of State Marco Rubio embarked on a fence-mending visit to the Vatican on Thursday, aiming to underscore robust bilateral ties following President Donald Trump’s recent broadsides against Pope Leo XIV . The Pope’s opposition to the Iran war had angered the Holy See and fueled ongoing sparring between the two leaders . During his visit, Rubio, a practicing Catholic, held an audience with Pope Leo XIV, a meeting complicated at the last minute by President Trump’s latest criticisms of the Chicago-born pontiff. The US State Department confirmed that discussions with Pope Leo and the Vatican’s top diplomat covered peace in the Middle East and "underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See," reflecting an "enduring partnership." Rubio then met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, who had strongly defended Pope Leo and criticized President Trump’s attacks in understated diplomatic terms just the day before.…