(RNS) — The reports on Marco Rubio’s meeting with Pope Leo this week were fairly anodyne. Their 45-minute chat was “friendly and constructive,” according to a State Department spokesman. The two “renewed the shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations,” according to a Vatican statement.

Personally, I’m going with Vatican ambassador Brian Burch’s prediction that the conversation would be “frank.” As in, I imagine, something like the following:

Leo: First, let me get this straight. You started out life as a Catholic, became a Mormon, went to an evangelical church, and now you’re a Catholic again?

Marco: That’s basically right, your Holiness. Kind of like your master St. Augustine. He started off as a Catholic, became a Manichaean, then went back to the faith of his mother, right? Not that I’m comparing myself to him or anything.

Leo: Nice.…