US vice president JD Vance meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday
The Vatican said they met for a few minutes at the Domus Santa Marta ‘to exchange Easter greetings’.
US vice president JD Vance met Pope Francis briefly on Sunday to exchange Easter greetings, after they got into a long-distance tangle over the Trump administration’s migrant deportation plans.
Francis, who is recovering from a near-fatal bout of pneumonia, received Mr Vance in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel where he lives.
The 88-year-old pope offered the Catholic vice president three big chocolate Easter eggs for Mr Vance’s three young children, who did not attend, as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.
“I know you have not been feeling great but it’s good to see you in better health,” Mr Vance told the pope. “Thank you for seeing me.”
Mr Vance’s motorcade entered Vatican City through a side gate while Easter Mass was being celebrated in St Peter’s Square.
Francis had delegated the celebration of the Mass to another cardinal.
The Vatican said they met for a few minutes at the Domus Santa Marta “to exchange Easter greetings”.
Mr Vance’s office said the vice president “expressed his gratitude to Pope Francis for inviting him to meet on Easter Sunday and for the hospitality the Vatican has extended to his family”.
“I pray for you every day,” Mr Vance said as he bid Francis farewell. “God bless you.”
In all, Mr Vance’s motorcade was on Vatican territory for 17 minutes.
Mr Vance and the pope 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.
Just days before he was admitted to hospital in February, Francis criticised 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 has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he will continue to defend his views.
In February 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”.
Mr Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, on Saturday.
Mr Vance’s office said he and Cardinal Parolin “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace”.
The Vatican, for its part, said there was an “exchange of opinions” including over migrants and refugees and current conflicts.
The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration while seeking to continue productive relations in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.
It has expressed alarm over the administration’s crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
