US Vice President Vance meets Vatican officials, discusses migrants and war

The Vatican described the meeting as “cordial” and acknowledged “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,” AP quoted the Vatican statement.

The Vatican also welcomed the US administration’s commitment to religious freedom, saying in the statement that there was “hope for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States,” recognising the Church’s service to vulnerable people.

Vance’s office said he and 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,” according to AP.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel, attend a Good Friday service led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, right, inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. (AP)

The Vatican has previously expressed concern about the Trump administration’s approach to immigration and international aid cuts, while continuing diplomatic engagement in line with its neutral tradition.

Cardinal Parolin, speaking to La Repubblica before the meeting, said: “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.”

He also reaffirmed Ukraine’s right to its land and stressed that peace “must not be imposed on Ukraine, but built patiently, day by day, with dialogue and mutual respect,” AP reported.

Vance and his family also visited the Sistine Chapel and Rome’s botanic gardens, where one of his sons was seen wearing a toy gladiator outfit, a common souvenir among children in Italy. They had earlier attended Good Friday services at St Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis and Vance have previously clashed over immigration policies. Francis has made the care of migrants a key issue during his papacy, often expressing views that contrast with those of conservative Catholics in the US, including Vance.

Vance has supported the administration’s hard-line immigration stance, citing a theological idea called ordo amoris  or “order of love”  which suggests people should first care for family, then their community, and finally those further away. But in a February letter, Francis appeared to challenge this view, writing: “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests… The true ordo amoris  builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

While Vance acknowledged the Pope’s criticism, he said he would continue to stand by his views. At a Catholic prayer event in February, he referred to himself as a “baby Catholic,” admitting, “there are things about the faith that I don’t know,” according to AP. Despite past criticisms of the Pope on social media, Vance has recently posted messages praying for Francis’ recovery.