WASHINGTON — Pope Francis died on Monday at age 88, just a day after making his last public appearance on Easter Sunday.
Vice President JD Vance had met with the pontiff, who was the first Latin American pope, in one of Francis’ final encounters before his death. The meeting also came after the two shared a long-distance tangle over the Trump administration’s deportation plans.
Following the announcement of the pope’s death Monday, Vance posted a tribute on X.
“I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” he wrote. “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill.”
“I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID,” Vance added. “It was really quite beautiful.”
In a video shared by the Vatican, the pope is seen on Sunday sitting in a wheelchair, and a priest is serving as a translator for the pontiff.
Vance is seen entering the room and reaching for the pope’s hand.
“Hello,” Vance said. “So good to see you. I know you’ve not been feeling great, but it’s good see you in better health.”
The pope’s words were inaudible in the video. But the priest is seen presenting Vance with chocolate eggs for his children and a tray of additional gifts like rosaries and a Vatican tie.
Vance gives his thanks for the gifts and poses with the pope for a photo.
“I pray for you every day,” Vance said before bidding farewell. “God bless you.”
While the Easter meeting was cordial, the vice president’s visit to the Vatican did come with some political sensitivities.
On Saturday, Vance met with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
Vance’s office said he and Parolin “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.”
The Vatican, for its part, said there was an “exchange of opinions” including over migrants and refugees and current conflicts.
Throughout his papacy, Francis focused on caring for migrants and refugees.
Days before he was hospitalized, the pope blasted the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. He warned that it would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity’s. Vance had defended the administration’s America-first crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as “ordo amoris.”
Vance has said the concept delineates a hierarchy of care — to family first, followed by neighbor, community, fellow citizens and lastly those elsewhere.
In a letter to U.S. bishops, Francis appeared to respond to Vance directly for using a medieval Catholic doctrine to justify the deportation policies.
““Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups,” he wrote in his Feb. 10 letter. “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, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, acknowledged Francis’ criticism but continued to defend his views on migrants. 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.”
