Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump’s feud with Pope Leo amid the Iran war will not affect the United States’ “very important relationship” with the Catholic Church.

Mr Rubio spoke to journalists on Saturday in Rome, a day after his visit to Pope Leo, who has opposed Mr Trump’s handling of the war with Iran.

Asked whether he was able to ease tensions between the pope and Mr Trump, the top diplomat said that at the “cordial and productive” meeting, he updated the spiritual leader on the situation with Iran and how it poses a “danger” to the world.

He cited the church’s role globally and said he believes the U.S. can continue to have a “very productive and fruitful and important relationship” with it.

Mr Rubio maintained that the U.S. and the Vatican collaborate on humanitarian and other issues, although Mr Trump’s stance that Iran is a threat “remains unchanged.”

“And I think we’re capable of having that position and expressing that position clearly and also working cooperatively—as we have for a century; in fact, we have for decades—with the Vatican and with the Catholic Church, which has a global presence,” he added.

Maintaining that the U.S. had been working with the Vatican, Mr Rubio noted that his visit to Pope Leo had been planned before his feud with the president.

Mr Rubio said that even though several issues were discussed during the meeting, he would not ask the pope to stop criticising the war in Iran.

“I don’t know, maybe. I don’t know. I mean, it could happen,” the diplomat said when asked about a possible phone call between Messrs Trump and Leo.

He, however, declined to comment on whether or not he would advise Mr Trump against criticising Mr Leo on social media, stating, “The president of the United States is always going to act in what’s in the best interests of the United States.”

In several social media posts, Mr Trump slammed Mr Leo, following the pontiff’s call for restraint on the president’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation.

During his Palm Sunday address, the pope condemned the Iran war while warning that God does not answer the prayers of those whose “hands are full of blood or who wage war.”

In one of his responses on his Truth Social, the U.S. president described Mr Leo as “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy.” The remark was condemned by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who deemed it “unacceptable.”

However, Mr Trump insisted he would not apologise to Pope Leo over the remarks after Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota berated him for attacking the pontiff.

Days later, the president shared an AI-generated image of Jesus holding him on his shoulder with the caption, “The radical left lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!”