Pope Leo XIV in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 8, 2026. GREGORIO BORGIA/AP
An official meeting with the first American pope in history comes as the world stands on the brink, hanging on the statements of a US president. On Thursday, April 9, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Rome ahead of his first official meeting with Pope Leo XIV, on Friday, just days after the ceasefire that partially halted the military escalation into which Israel and the United States have plunged the Middle East.
Though the two heads of state do not agree on everything, officials in Rome say that "their views converge" on many crises, particularly Lebanon – a country of special importance to Paris and one that the pope visited in December 2025 – as well as Jerusalem, where certain religious sites are historic French holdings. Both Paris and Rome expressed strong concern over the actions of the Israeli government, whose police forces denied the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on March 29. He had been scheduled to celebrate Palm Sunday there.
On Tuesday, the American pope broke the usual silence he has maintained since his election to reiterate the principles of international law, calling Donald Trump's threat to target civilian infrastructure and annihilate Iran "truly unacceptable." In South Korea on April 2, Macron also pledged to defend a world order based on the rule of law.
