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April 22, 2025 | 08:43 pm
A few hours before his passing, Pope Francis received an unexpected visitor from the United States, who identified himself as a devout Catholic. This visitor was JD Vance, the vice president of the United States.
Vance's visit to the Vatican was quite unexpected, considering Pope Francis is a staunch critic of President Donald Trump, especially regarding his immigration policies.
According to The Guardian, Vance visited the Domus Santa Marta residence, where Francis has lived during his 12-year papacy. As per statements from the Vatican and Vance's office, the two exchanged Easter greetings for a few minutes, and the 88-year-old Pope presented him with rosaries, a Vatican tie, and three large chocolate Easter eggs, one for each of Vance's children.
The meeting took place shortly after Francis delivered the traditional Easter blessing in St. Peter's Square, a surprising appearance given his frail health. Vance told the Pope, "I pray for you every day."
Pope's Criticisms of Trump's Policies
This unexpected meeting comes in light of recent public disagreements between Pope Francis and Vance, particularly regarding the Trump administration's immigration policies. The Pope openly condemned mass deportations as a "major crisis" that degrades human dignity. This critique contrasts with Vance's defense of these policies, using Catholic theological concepts to prioritize concern for one's own community as the justification.
Pope Francis doesn't deny a nation's right to protect its people from those who perpetrate violence and serious crimes. However, he stated, "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."
Vance acknowledged the Pope's critique but stated that he would continue to defend his views. He did not specifically address this issue when speaking at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC in February, but referred to himself as a "baby Catholic," admitting that there are "things about the faith that I do not know."
JD Vance's Journey to Catholicism
JD Vance was raised in a loose evangelical Protestant environment, but his upbringing was not particularly religious or tied to a specific church tradition. His family background, as described in his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, was marked by a lack of strong religious practices or attendance at church, reflecting a broader trend of cultural Christianity in his Appalachian community.
Vance was mostly raised by his grandmother, "Mamaw," who did not believe in “organized religion.” His family rarely attended church. At the age of 10, Vance doubted whether God loved him, given his troubled family life, as reported by Catholic News Agency.
The ideas of an Anglican philosopher about faith and doubt challenged Vance's atheism during college. Billionaire Peter Thiel shaped his views on achievement and introduced him to Christian thinker René Girard.
Vance hesitated to convert to Catholicism because of his loyalty to his grandmother's Protestant beliefs. However, conversations with Dominican monks and spiritual experiences led him to be baptized in 2019 by a Dominican priest.
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