BY PC Bureau
Pope Francis did not hold an official meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance during the latter’s recent visit to Rome, the Vatican confirmed. Instead, Vance met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, to discuss bilateral issues, including war, humanitarian crises, and Church-state cooperation, with a particular focus on migrants, refugees, and prisoners, according to a Vatican press release.
Sources within the Vatican, speaking to Sky News, revealed that Vance briefly greeted Pope Francis at his residence, but no formal details of this encounter were disclosed. The Vatican’s official statements made no mention of a private meeting, emphasizing only the discussions with Cardinal Parolin. A statement from Vance’s office notably omitted any reference to migration, a contentious issue between the Trump administration and the Holy See.
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The absence of an official meeting with Pope Francis comes amid heightened tensions between Vance and the Catholic Church. In recent months, Vance has accused the Church of leveraging migrant advocacy for financial gain, prompting a sharp rebuke from Pope Francis. In a 10 February letter to U.S. bishops, the pope called mass deportations a “disgrace” and stressed that Christian love must be “open to all, without exception.” He directly countered Vance’s invocation of the medieval Catholic concept of ordo amoris—a hierarchical ordering of love prioritizing family and nation over outsiders—which Vance cited in January to justify the administration’s mass deportation policies.
The Pope’s decision to skip the meeting with Vance on 4/19/2025, sending Cardinal Parolin to lecture on compassion instead, as reported by Reuters, underscores a deliberate Vatican rebuke of Vance’s positions, though Francis did meet Vance briefly the next day for Easter wishes.
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The pope’s limited public engagements may have also contributed to the lack of an official meeting. Recently recovered from pneumonia, Pope Francis skipped the Good Friday service at St. Peter’s Basilica, which Vance attended. However, he has resumed some activities, including a surprise visit to a Roman prison on Holy Thursday.
The Vatican’s clarification and the divergence in statements from the two sides underscore ongoing friction between the Trump administration’s immigration stance and the Church’s humanitarian priorities. Neither side has indicated plans for further dialogue at this time.
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