Vance goes to the Vatican following papal rebuke over Trump migrant crackdown

US vice president JD Vance is meeting with the Vatican’s number two official, following a remarkable papal rebuke of the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants and Vance’s theological justification of it.

Mr Vance, a Catholic convert, was due to meet on Saturday with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

There was speculation he might also briefly greet Pope Francis, who has begun resuming some official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.

Mr Vance was spending Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended Good Friday services in St Peter’s Basilica on Friday after meeting with Italian premier Giorgia Meloni.

Francis and Mr Vance have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse.

Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy and his progressive views on social justice issues have often put him at odds with members of the more conservative US Catholic Church.

Mr Vance, who converted in 2019, identifies with a small Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that is often called “postliberal.”

Postliberals share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

They envision a counterrevolution in which they take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting upon their vision of the “common good”.

Just days before he was taken to hospital in February, Francis blasted the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity.

In a letter to US bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Mr Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.

Mr Vance had defended the administration’s America-first crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as “ordo amoris”.

He has said the concept delineates a hierarchy of care, to family first, followed by neighbour, community, fellow citizens and lastly those elsewhere.

In his February 10 letter, Francis appeared to correct Mr Vance’s understanding of the concept.

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups,” he wrote.

“The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’, that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

Mr Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he would continue to defend his views.

During a February 28 appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Mr Vance did not address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there are “things about the faith that I don’t know”.

While he had criticised Francis on social media in the past, recently he has posted prayers for Francis’ recovery.

On Friday, Mr Vance, his wife and three young children had front-row seats at the Vatican’s Good Friday service in St Peter’s, a two-hour solemn commemoration featuring Latin and Italian readings. Francis did not attend.