Vance meets with Pope Francis, a Trump critic, on Easter morning

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met privately with Pope Francis on Sunday morning, according to a Vatican statement.

Vance, a Catholic who has spat with the pope over the immigration policy of the Trump administration, met Francis at his Vatican home to wish him a happy Easter, according to the statement.

“Pope Francis had a brief private encounter … lasting a few minutes, in order to exchange good wishes on Easter day,” the statement read. Later, the pope arrived in St. Peter’s Square in an open-air popemobile to meet throngs following Easter Mass.

The meeting was confirmed in a brief statement from Vance’s office, but no other information was provided.

On Saturday, the vice president, who has been traveling to Italy with his family this weekend, had more formal discussions with top Vatican officials. The pope did not participate in those talks since he is recuperating from double pneumonia.

Pope and Vatican officials have criticized a number of Trump administration initiatives, such as his plans to deport millions of migrants from the United States and his massive cuts to domestic welfare programs and overseas aid.

Francis has referred to the crackdown on immigration as a “disgrace”. To support the policy, Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, has invoked Catholic teaching from the Middle Ages.

In an extraordinary open letter to the U.S. Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, the pope labeled Trump’s proposal a “major crisis” for the United States and refuted the theological argument Vance used to justify the crackdown.