During a meeting Monday at the Vatican, Vice President JD Vance delivered a letter from President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, formally inviting Pope Leo XIV to the U.S.
The American-born pope accepted the letter, placed it on his desk, and was heard remarking, “at some point,” in video footage of the meeting shared by Vatican Media.
“As you can probably imagine, people in the United States are extremely excited about you,” Vance said during their gift exchange.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, gave the pope a copy of two of St. Augustine’s most influential works, “The City of God” and “On Christian Doctrine,” according to the vice president’s office.
The video also shows him presenting a Chicago Bears T-shirt bearing the name “Pope Leo” with the number “XIV” on it alongside second lady Usha Vance, sharing a lighthearted moment as they exchanged smiles.
In return, Pope Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture inscribed in Italian with the phrase “Peace is a fragile flower” along with a photo book of the papal apartments. He noted that Pope Francis had chosen not to live there and added, “And I may live in but it’s not totally decided.”(RELATED: Return To Tradition: Pope Leo XIV To Reportedly Live In The Apostolic Palace)
The vice president led the U.S. delegation at Sunday’s formal Mass marking the opening of the pontificate of the first American pope.
On Monday, joining him at the meeting with the pope was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Catholic, The Associated Press reported. The two later met with Vatican Foreign Minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
In a statement from the Vatican, it described the meeting as “cordial” and that during which they reaffirmed the “good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States.”
The statement went on to note that they discussed “collaboration on ecclesial life and religious freedom, along with several key matters of mutual concern.”
“There was an exchange of views on current international issues, with hope expressed that humanitarian and international law be respected in conflict areas and that a negotiated solution be reached,” the statement continued. (RELATED: Here’s What We Know About First American Pope)
In the days following his election May 8, Pope Leo pledged to devote “every effort” to promoting peace in Ukraine, emphasizing the Vatican’s commitment to humanitarian assistance and conflict resolution.
After briefly greeting the pope at the end of Sunday’s Mass, Vance spent the rest of the day in separate meetings, including one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ahead of the Vatican meeting Monday as part of U.S. efforts to advance a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.(RELATED: Vance And Zelenskyy Shake Hands In First Encounter Since Oval Office Meeting)
He also met with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
In a statement published Monday by Meloni’s office, she “expressed her appreciation for the willingness Ukraine has once again shown with regard to dialogue, and reaffirmed the hope that Moscow will seriously engage, through direct leader-to-leader contact, in negotiations that can lead to peace.”
