U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has received VIP treatment at the Vatican, getting a private tour of the Sistine Chapel before he met with Pope Francis.
There were no immediate details Monday of the two men's closed-door talks in the Apostolic Palace.
Last year, when the Trump administration sent U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Rome for a conference on religious freedom, Francis didn't grant him a meeting.
Vatican officials at the time said that was to avoid any suggestion of favoritism ahead of the U.S. presidential election that brought Blinken's boss, President Joe Biden, to power.
