Inside Pope Francis’ final meeting with JD Vance before his death

US Vice President JD Vance was one of the last people to meet with Pope Francis in the days before his death, after travelling to the Vatican to meet senior Catholic Church officials.

Vance’s talks with officials — who have been sharply critical of his administration’s policies — in the first such in-person talks of the second Trump presidency.

Vance, a Catholic who has clashed with Pope Francis over US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, and his chief deputy on Saturday.

The two sides had “cordial talks” that included “an exchange of opinions on the international situation”, according to a Vatican statement after the meeting.

Vance and Parolin spoke “especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners”, the statement read.

Francis, who limited his public appearances prior to his death following a battle with double pneumonia, did not take part in the official meeting.

However, he did meet briefly with Vance in his hotel.

The Vatican said the encounter lasted just a few minutes and was designed to allow for an exchange of Easter greetings.

Vance is visiting Italy during the Easter weekend with his family, and attended Good Friday services in St Peter’s Basilica on Friday after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Late Pope critical of Trump administration’s policies

The Pope, Parolin and other Vatican officials have criticised several Trump administration policies, including Trump’s plans to deport millions of migrants from the US and his widespread cuts to foreign aid and domestic welfare programs.

“This visit takes place in a delicate moment,” said Massimo Faggioli, an Italian academic at Villanova University who has followed the papacy closely.

“This relationship with the US is a very high priority right now for the Vatican.”

Francis has called the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown a “disgrace”.

Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, has cited medieval-era Catholic teaching to justify the immigration crackdown.

The Pope rebutted the theological concept Vance used to defend the crackdown in an unusual open letter to the US Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, and called Trump’s plan a “major crisis” for the US.

“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly,” the Pope said then.

Vance first visited the Vatican on Thursday to attend a religious ceremony in St Peter’s Basilica with his family.

The Catholic Church’s worldwide charity arm has called the Trump administration’s funding cuts to US foreign aid programmes “catastrophic” in terms of its impact on the developing world.

The Vatican statement said that, during the Vance and Parolin meeting, “hope was expressed for serene collaboration” between the US church and government.

-With AP