U.S. Vice President JD Vance met Saturday with the Vatican’s No. 2 official, following a remarkable papal rebuke of the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants and Vance’s theological justification of it.
Vance, a Catholic convert, arrived Saturday in Vatican City for an appointment with the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. There was speculation he might also briefly greet Pope Francis, who has been resuming some official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.
The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration, in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality. It has expressed alarm over the administration’s crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the war in Ukraine and Gaza.
“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 on the eve of the Vance visit.
As the U.S. pushes to end the war in Ukraine, Parolin reaffirmed Kyiv’s right to its territorial integrity and insisted that any peace deal must not be “imposed” on Ukraine but “is built patiently, day by day, with dialogue and mutual respect.”
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.
Papal rebuke on migration
Francis and Vance have tangled sharply over migration 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.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, identifies with a small Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that is often called “postliberal.”
Postliberals share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. They envision a counterrevolution in which they take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting upon their vision of the “common good.”
Just days before he was hospitalized in February, Francis blasted the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity. In a letter to U.S. bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.
A Latin concept of love
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 his 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.”
While he had criticized Francis on social media in the past, Vance recently has posted prayers for Francis’ recovery.
On Friday, Vance, his wife and three young children had front-row seats at the Vatican’s Good Friday service in St. Peter’s, a two-hour solemn commemoration featuring Latin and Italian readings. Francis did not attend.
But the pope has begun receiving visitors, including King Charles III, and this week ventured out of the Vatican to meet with prisoners at Rome’s central jail to keep a Holy Thursday appointment ministering to the most marginalized.
He has named other cardinals to preside over Easter services this weekend, but officials haven’t ruled out a possible brief greeting with Vance.
“I’m grateful every day for this job, but particularly today, where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday,” Vance posted on X. “I wish all Christians all over the world, but particularly those back home in the US, a blessed Good Friday.”
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This version corrects the first name of Gallagher.
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