JD Vance Pays Brief Visit To Pope Francis On Easter

Vice President JD Vance met briefly with Pope Francis in Vatican City on Easter Sunday as the supreme pontiff recovers from a severe bout of pneumonia.

Vance traveled to Rome ahead of Easter to meet with top Italian officials including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani. Vance, who is Catholic, was able to meet with the pope as well as Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the top diplomat for the Holy See, during the trip.

The vice president met with Francis briefly; the Vance motorcade was on Vatican property for less than 20 minutes, according to the Associated Press. During the meeting, the pope presented Vance with gifts, including a Vatican tie, rosaries, and three chocolate Easter eggs for his children.

The Vatican said that a “cordial conversation took place” between Vance and Francis on “the common commitment to protect the right to religious freedom and freedom of conscience.” The two also discussed “the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention focused on migrants, refugees and those in prison.”

Just in: Pope Francis presents US Vice President JD Vance with a Vatican tie, blessed rosary beads, and three Easter eggs for his children. Vance tells the Pope "It's good to see you in better health." @EWTNews pic.twitter.com/mFpXChiqmZ

— Colm Flynn (@colmflynnire) April 20, 2025

The meeting underpins what the White House has said is the Trump administration’s strong support for Catholicism and Catholics. Vance said in a speech to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in February that President Donald Trump, while not a Catholic, “has been an incredibly good president for Catholics in the United States of America.”

Vance and the pope met after the Holy See and the Trump administration exchanged barbs over immigration policy earlier this year. In February, Francis wrote a letter to bishops in the United States expressing concern over U.S. deportation policies.

“I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations. The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality,” Francis wrote.

The letter came after Vance had floated the idea of “ordo amoris,” or “order of love” in Latin, to justify the Trump administration’s immigration policy.

“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 in an interview with Fox News.

Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone? https://t.co/otvv5g1wFN

— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 30, 2025