US Vice President J.D. Vance met with the Vatican's second-highest official after the Pope condemned the Trump administration's crackdown on migrants and Mr. Vance's theological justification for it.
Mr Vance, who recently converted to Catholicism, arrived at the Vatican on Saturday for talks with Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Foreign Minister Archbishop Peter Gallagher.
There was speculation that he might also meet briefly with Pope Francis, who has begun to return to his official duties after recovering from pneumonia.
The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration, in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality. It has expressed concern about the repression of migrants in the United States and the reduction of international aid, while stressing the need for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine and the situation in the Gaza Strip.
“It is clear that the approach of the current US administration is very different from what we are used to seeing and, especially in the West, from what we have hoped for over the years,” Mr Parolin told La Repubblica newspaper on the eve of Vance's visit.
As the US tries to end the war in Ukraine, the cardinal reaffirmed Kyiv's right to defend its territorial integrity and stressed that any peace agreement should not be “imposed” on Ukraine but should be “built patiently, step by step, on the basis of dialogue and mutual respect.”
Mr Vance is spending the Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended Good Friday services at St Peter's Basilica after meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Francis and Mr Vance have been at odds over immigration and the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations. The pope has made migrant concerns a central aspect of his pontificate, and his progressive views on social issues have often put him at odds with more conservative members of the Catholic Church in the US.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
