Donald Trump has issued a White House invitation to Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born pontiff who as Cardinal Robert Prevost previously criticised Trump’s administration.
In return, Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture with words in Italian meaning “peace is a fragile flower”.
The pope spoke to Vance privately before they were joined by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
After meeting Leo, Vance spoke with officials from the Vatican’s secretariat of state.
Vance, Rubio and their wives were in Rome to attend a mass on Sunday marking the official start of Leo’s papacy.
Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native who previously criticized Trump’s administration as Cardinal Robert Prevost, has received an invitation from Donald Trump to the White House.
During a meeting at the Vatican on Monday morning, US vice president JD Vance brought a letter from US president and first lady Melania Trump to the pope, inviting him to attend.
Vance and his spouse were seen handing the pope a Chicago Bears American football jersey with Leo’s name on it in a video that the Vatican released at the beginning of the meeting.
Vance, who became a Catholic in 2019, said, “The US people are really excited about you, as you can probably imagine.”.
Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture that read, “peace is a fragile flower,” in exchange.
Before US Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined them, Vance had a private conversation with the pope. The topics of discussion were not disclosed by the Vatican.
In a number of posts on his X account prior to his election as pope this month, Prevost criticized the Trump administration, primarily for its strict immigration policies.
He shared a National Catholic Reporter opinion piece in February that was titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.” The article was based on remarks made by Vance during an interview on Fox News.
Vance had a conversation with representatives of the Vatican’s secretariat of state after meeting Leo. According to the Vatican, those discussions were “friendly,” and there was “an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved.”.
Hours before Trump was scheduled to call Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to end the war in Ukraine, the Vatican meetings took place.
Vance, Rubio, and their spouses were in Rome on Sunday to attend a mass commemorating the formal beginning of Leo’s pontificate.
The Vatican has not acknowledged or refuted the authenticity of the since-deleted social media posts. On immigration, Trump and Vance also had disagreements with the late Pope Francis.
“Vance certainly knows where the pope stands on the Trump administration’s position on migration, so I think it was probably important for both sides to use the meeting today as a reset [in relations],” stated Christopher White, the National Catholic Reporter’s Vatican correspondent and author of the upcoming book Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.
However, they clearly have very different views on migration, so today’s focus was primarily on Ukraine and finding a solution. Because he described the war as an imperialist aggression by Russia, Leo was far more direct than Francis ever was before he was elected pope. “.”.
Although Trump would try to take advantage of Leo’s pontificate, White said it was unlikely the pope would prioritize a trip to the US. “He will have a lot of cunning,” White continued. It’s reasonable to assume that he will travel to his adopted nation of Peru before returning to his native country. “”.
