Marco Rubio gifts Pope Leo small crystal football during Vatican meeting

WorldPolitics
8 May 2026 • 5:39 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Marco Rubio gifts Pope Leo small crystal football during Vatican meeting

U.S Secretary Marco Rubio gifted Pope Leo a small crystal football following their meeting at The Vatican.

The gift exchange followed a sit-down meeting between Rubio and Pope Leo on Thursday (7 May), where the two are believed to have discussed escalating tensions surrounding the ongoing war in Iran.

After what seemed like a productive conversation, the Pope presented Rubio with an olive branch encased in wood, known as "the plant of peace" universally.

Rubio then handed the Pope a palm sized crystal football asking, "What do you get the man who has everything?" to which the Pope responded "Wow, ok".

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