Vance meets with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday after tangling sharply over migration

Vice President JD Vance met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Easter Sunday, a spokesperson for the vice president said, in a rare meeting after the two men have tangled sharply over immigration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. 

Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy and his progressive views on social justice issues have often put him at odds with members of the more conservative U.S. Catholic Church.

Francis also changed church teaching to say that capital punishment is inadmissible in all cases.

Meanwhile, Vance had defended the administration’s America-first crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as “ordo amoris.” He has said the concept delineates a hierarchy of care — to family first, followed by neighbor, community, fellow citizens and lastly those elsewhere.

In a Feb. 10 letter, Francis appeared to correct Vance’s understanding of the concept.

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups,” he wrote. “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he would continue to defend his views. During a Feb. 28 appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Vance didn’t address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there are “things about the faith that I don’t know.”

Vance was spending Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended Good Friday services in St. Peter’s Basilica after meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. On Saturday, the Vances got a private tour of the Sistine Chapel, and the vice president met with the Vatican’s No. 2 official. 

The Holy See reaffirmed good relations with Vance after the Saturday meeting, but noted “an exchange of opinions” over current international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.

The Vatican stated that Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. 

The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration, keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality, expressing alarm over the administration’s crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid.

Those concerns were reflected in the Vatican’s statement on Saturday, which said the talks were cordial and that it expressed satisfaction with the administration’s commitment to protecting freedom of religion and conscience.

“There was 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,” the statement said. “Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the State and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”

The reference to “serene collaboration” appeared to refer to Vance’s accusation that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was resettling “illegal immigrants” to get federal funding. Top U.S. cardinals have pushed back strongly against the claim.

“It is clear that the approach of the current U.S. administration is very different from what we are used to and, especially in the West, from what we have relied on for many years,” Parolin told La Repubblica daily on the eve of Vance’s visit.

The vice president’s office confirmed the meeting between Vance and Parolin, saying they “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.”

There was no mention of the details offered by the Vatican.

Kristin Brown

contributed to this report.