Vice President JD Vance visits Vatican after clashing with pope over immigration policy
Vice President JD Vance arrived in Rome for the Easter holiday weekend with second lady Usha Vance and their three children on the first leg of a six-day foreign trip that includes discussions with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and a visit to the Vatican.
Vance, who is Catholic, attended a Good Friday service on April 18 at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican complex. The Republican U.S. vice president has clashed with Pope Francis over the Trump administration's immigration policy.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who is recovering from a recent battle with life-threatening pneumonia, did not attend the service. He has been critical of the Trump administration’s mass deportation of migrants and has disputed Vance’s interpretation of theology.
Meloni, who was in the White House just 24 hours earlier meeting President Donald Trump, Vance and members of the Cabinet, joked that she “was really missing him” as Vance arrived for a bilateral meeting at Palazzo Chigi, Meloni’s office complex.
“I'm proud that you decided to pass the Easter here in Rome, and we really hope you enjoy this time,” Meloni said, adding that she had a “wonderful meeting” in Washington discussing various topics.
The leaders held a private meeting, and Vance told reporters he would provide updates on the war between Ukraine and Russia, among other topics.
“We do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this brutal war to a close,” Vance said.
Vance, who was baptized Catholic in 2019, invoked that Christian concept of “ordo amoris,” or "rightly ordered love," during a television interview in January to defend the deportations of migrants
"You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world,” Vance said during the interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity
In a letter to U.S. bishops on Feb. 10, the pope appeared to be criticizing Vance, writing: "Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups," he wrote, saying instead it is a “love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception."
On Feb. 28, Vance led a prayer for the pope during the 20th National Catholic Prayer Breakfast as the pontiff battled pneumonia. Vance addressed the pontiff's criticism, saying: “We are not called as Christians to obsess over every social-media controversy that implicates the Catholic church, whether it involves the clergy, a bishop or the Holy Father himself.”
Vance is expected to have a formal meeting at the Vatican on Saturday with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Church's most senior official after the pope. Vance may also attend the Vatican's celebration of Easter in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, according to Reuters. The Vatican has not said yet whether the pope will attend the ceremony
Vance will arrive in India on April 21 for the second part of his trip.
Contributing: Reuters
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for Paste BN. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal