The French leader, who arrived with his wife Brigitte after flying to Rome yesterday, met the US pontiff and the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin.
Macron and the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics were due above all to discuss “the resolution of the crisis in the Middle East”, a spokesman for Macron’s office told reporters.
They are particularly focused on Lebanon, where deadly Israeli strikes threatened this week’s temporary truce between the US and Iran.
Leo XIV visited Lebanon late last year as part of his first trip abroad, which also included Turkey, and has repeatedly prayed for the victims of conflict there.
Macron has also made numerous appeals for Lebanon to be included in the ceasefire.
He discussed the conflict on Thursday evening with representatives of the Catholic community of Sant’Egidio, an informal diplomatic channel of the Holy See that is very active on Middle Eastern and humanitarian issues.
“Macron is a man of peace,” and “can do a lot” to “support” the Lebanese authorities, the community’s founder, Andrea Riccardi, told reporters, adding that Lebanon “must not be left alone”.
In recent days, both Macron and the Chicago-born pontiff have spoken out against US president Donald Trump over the war, which began with Israel-US attacks on Iran.
Leo condemned as “unacceptable” threats to civilian targets – while not citing Trump by name – while Macron said there was “too much talk, and it’s all over the place”.
Both welcomed the truce and have urged a diplomatic solution to the war, which has expanded across the Middle East and roiled the global economy.
Yesterday, the US government denied a report that the Vatican’s US envoy was summoned in January for a “bitter” dressing down over a speech by the pope condemning “diplomacy based on force”, in remarks widely viewed as aimed at the Trump administration.
Macron is not a practising Catholic but had a good relationship with Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, meeting him three times and discussing with him both global crises and spirituality.
Their relationship also had its tensions, with the late Argentine criticising the inclusion of abortion in the French constitution, and Macron’s proposal to introduce assisted dying in France.
The president is expected to invite Leo, a more reserved character than his predecessor, to visit France soon.
Francis never made a state visit to France and declined to attend the opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2024, five years after its devastation by fire.
Friday’s meeting at the Vatican comes three days before the pope’s visit to the former French colony of Algeria, the first ever by a pontiff.