Vatican notes ‘exchange of opinions’ with JD Vance over migrants and prisoners

JD Vance has met the Vatican’s number two official amid tensions over the US crackdown on migrants, with the Holy See reaffirming good relations but noting “an exchange of opinions” over international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.

The Vatican issued a statement after the US vice president, a Catholic convert, met the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

There was no immediate word if Mr Vance stopped to meet Pope Francis, who has been resuming official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.

The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration, in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.

It has expressed alarm over the US crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Francis has also changed church teaching to say capital punishment is immoral and made prison ministry a hallmark of his papacy.

Those concerns were reflected in the Vatican statement which said the talks were cordial and that the Vatican expressed satisfaction with the administration’s commitment to protecting freedom of religion and conscience.

“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners,” the statement said.

“Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”

The reference to “serene collaboration” appeared to refer to Mr Vance’s accusation that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was resettling “illegal immigrants” in order to get federal funding. Senior US cardinals have pushed back strongly against the claim.

“It is clear that the approach of the current US administration is very different from what we are used to and, especially in the West, from what we have relied on for many years,” Mr Parolin told La Repubblica daily on the eve of Mr Vance’s visit.

As the US pushes to end the war in Ukraine, he reaffirmed Kyiv’s right to its territorial integrity and insisted that any peace deal must not be “imposed” on Ukraine but “is built patiently, day by day, with dialogue and mutual respect”.

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

On Saturday, after introducing his family to Mr Parolin, the Vances had a private tour of the Sistine Chapel.

Francis and Mr Vance have tangled 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.

After a public appeal from Francis weeks before Mr Trump took office, Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row. Mr Trump is an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment.

In one of his only outings since his near-death hospital admission for pneumonia, Francis this week visited Rome’s central prison to spend Holy Thursday with inmates.

The vice president, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, identifies with a small Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that is often called “post-liberal”.

Post-liberals share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBT+ rights. They envision a counter-revolution in which they take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting on a vision of the “common good”.

Days before he was admitted to hospital in February, Francis condemned the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning 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 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’s criticism but said he would continue to defend his views. During a February 28 appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, he did not address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there were “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 the pontiff’s recovery.

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