Pope Leo XIV met with Vice President JD Vance for a closed-door meeting at the Vatican on Monday morning, the first private conversation between America’s two most high-profile Catholics since the new pontiff was elected.
The much-anticipated encounter came amid a period of tension between the papacy and the White House, particularly over issues of immigration and theology.
The meeting also took place after Leo on Friday said the church could act as a mediator in global conflicts, including, his second-in-command said, between Ukraine and Russia. Following the pope’s inaugural Mass on Sunday, the pope and the vice president each met privately with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
“I think the Vatican, in particular, the Pope, is going to be a great advocate of world peace,” Mr. Vance said before departing Italy. “So we’re going to find some very important things to work together on.”
Mr. Vance also delivered a letter from Mr. Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, “extending their warm wishes” to the pope and inviting him to the White House, said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.
The encounter furthered hope for some on the American right that their relationship with the Holy See might be in for a reset, after years of conflict with Pope Francis, Leo’s predecessor, who criticized some of President Trump’s views as “not Christian.” Francis frequently clashed with Republican priorities, particularly on immigration, during both Trump presidencies, and was known to find more partnership with Democrats on goals like environmental protection and the Iran nuclear deal.
Leo, a moderate, appears to share many of his predecessor’s views and seemed to criticize Mr. Vance in a now-deleted social media account associated with his name over the vice-president’s theology and tough stance on immigration. But the pope has made unity an early theme of his nascent papacy, including in his inaugural Mass on Sunday. Some conservative American Catholics have found points of commonality with Leo, in his missionary sensibilities and administrative pragmatism.
Mr. Vance gave Leo a Chicago Bears jersey with “Pope Leo XIV” on the back. The vice president also gave Leo, a former leader of the Order of Saint Augustine, a copy of Saint Augustine’s “City of God,” a fifth-century text that was meaningful in Mr. Vance’s conversion to Catholicism in 2019.
After meeting with Pope Leo on Monday, Mr. Vance met with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister. Those discussions were “cordial” and reaffirmed “good bilateral relations,” according to a statement from the Vatican’s press office.
“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,” the statement said.
The meeting between Leo and Mr. Vance began one-on-one in the Apostolic Palace. The vice president was then joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, followed by their spouses, and the rest of the U.S. delegation, according to a spokesman for Mr. Vance.
In the discussion with Archbishop Gallagher, “the collaboration between Church and State was discussed, as well as some matters of special relevance to ecclesial life and religious freedom,” the Vatican statement said.
On Easter Sunday, Mr. Vance met Francis, who had openly criticized the vice president’s theology around compassion and immigration.
Now, a month later, the field of possibilities for the White House has shifted. At Leo’s inaugural Mass, Louis Prevost, the pope’s oldest brother from Florida who has described himself as a “MAGA type,” sat next to Usha Vance, the second lady.
Elisabetta Povoledo and Jason Horowitz contributed reporting.
