{"text":[[{"start":8.85,"text":"US secretary of state Marco Rubio is set to meet Pope Leo on Thursday, as the White House seeks to repair relations with the Vatican after Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the head of the Catholic Church."}],[{"start":22.2,"text":"Rubio, a Catholic and the son of Cuban immigrants, said his visit had been planned before the public dispute between the president and the pontiff, and the subjects up for discussion would include the crisis in Cuba. "}],[{"start":35.65,"text":"The Vatican has deep ties with the communist regime on the island and has successfully served as a mediator between the US and Cuban authorities in the past. Trump last week joked about the US Navy taking over Cuba “on the way back from Iran”. "}],[{"start":51.25,"text":"“We have a lot to talk about with the Vatican,” Rubio said on Tuesday at a White House news conference, adding that freedom of religion in Africa — where Pope Leo has just completed a long trip — was another topic of mutual interest."}],[{"start":64.85,"text":"Analysts say Rubio’s top priority will be to defuse tensions that have erupted between the White House and Holy See over the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. "}],[{"start":77.85,"text":"Pope Leo has fiercely criticised the US involvement in the Iran war, which Catholic theologians and American clerics argue did not fulfil the church’s criteria for a “just war” — when resorting to violent force may be deemed permissible. "}],[{"start":93.69999999999999,"text":"After Trump threatened to “eradicate” Iran last month, Leo, who is the first North American pope, made an unusual appeal to US citizens to call their congressional representatives to demand an end to the bombing campaign."}],[{"start":107.19999999999999,"text":"Trump called Pope Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy”. The president later said he was “not a big fan” of the Catholic leader. Vice-president JD Vance, who is himself a recent convert to Catholicism, also warned the pope to “be careful” when speaking about theology. "}],[{"start":124.1,"text":"Trump has renewed his attack on the Chicago-born pope this week, claiming Pope Leo was “endangering a lot of Catholics” and “thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon”."}],[{"start":135.1,"text":"Rubio on Tuesday also insinuated that the pope and other critics thought it would be “acceptable” for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. “The president, and I . . . cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said."}],[{"start":152.95,"text":"Pope Leo dismissed Trump’s claim, telling reporters outside Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday that “for years, the Catholic Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so let there be no doubt on that point”."}],[{"start":166.2,"text":"“If somebody wants to criticise me for proclaiming the gospel, let him do so,” Pope Leo said."}],[{"start":172.64999999999998,"text":"Just hours ahead of the meeting Trump said he expected Rubio to make US policy clear to the Vatican and repeated that Tehran “cannot have a nuclear weapon”. “If that happened, the entire world would be hostage and we’re not going to let that happen. That is my only message,” he told reporters in Washington. "}],[{"start":190.39999999999998,"text":"Massimo Franco, author of the book Popes, Dollars and Wars about Washington’s relationship with the Vatican, said he expected Rubio, who was “more institutional” and “more diplomatic” than other figures in the Trump administration, to hold “frank” discussions with the pope. "}],[{"start":207.74999999999997,"text":"“I don’t think that the relationship between the Vatican and the United States will be destroyed by this presidency,” he said. But he said Rubio might struggle to agree a common approach to the crisis in Cuba."}],[{"start":219.74999999999997,"text":"“The situation in Cuba is terrible — they are in a dire situation, but that doesn’t mean there will be a green light to an invasion by the Americans,” said Franco. “They want a very smooth transition — and not a new colonialisation.”"}],[{"start":234.84999999999997,"text":"Rubio said on Tuesday the Trump administration was interested in providing aid to Cuba to be distributed “through the church”, something he intended to discuss in his meeting at the Vatican."}],[{"start":246.14999999999998,"text":"The visit comes ahead of US midterm elections in which Catholic voters — who broke decisively for Trump in 2024 — are an important constituency in swing states."}],[{"start":257,"text":"“Washington has not come to Rome to convert the pope,” Father Antonio Spadaro, under-secretary of the Vatican’s dicastery of culture and education, wrote of Rubio’s visit. “It has come to acknowledge — implicitly but legibly — that his voice carries weight in the world that cannot simply be dismissed.”"}],[{"start":275.9,"text":"Washington and the Holy See had co-operated closely in the struggle against Communism in the cold war under Pope John Paul II, who was Polish. But the two sides have drifted apart more recently."}],[{"start":287.65,"text":"Trump had initially welcomed the election of Pope Leo, expressing surprise, but calling it a “great honour” for the US. But relations have since soured as Pope Leo and US Catholic clerics grew increasingly critical of the president’s policies on immigration and then the Iran war. "}],[{"start":304.4,"text":"“The Trump administration wasn’t ready for an American pope because they didn’t understand the implications,” said Francesco Sisci, founder of the Appia Institute, a think-tank with ties to the Catholic Church. “A pope is first and foremost a pope — despite whatever upbringing they may have had.”"}],[{"start":321.84999999999997,"text":"Additional reporting by Abigail Hauslohner in Washington"}],[{"start":332.3999999999999,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778135969_7015.mp3"}