The topics of the discussion included religion and immigration freedom.
Vice President JD Vance met with Cardinal of the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin on April 19th to continue his Easter trip to the Italian Peninsula.
Vance met with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary on Cardinal Parolin and International Organizations around 10am on Holy Saturday.
The office of the Holy Sea Press described the meeting as heartfelt, saying that both sides expressed their satisfaction with the “repeated commitment to protecting existing bilateral relations between the Holy Sea and the United States and the freedom of religion and conscience and rights of conscience.”
The sacred reference also pointed to the exchange of international issues with what it described as “a difficult humanitarian situation,” particularly with regard to the ongoing war and political tensions, and countries affected by immigrants, refugees and prisoners.
His sacredness, Pope Francis I, opposed the Trump administration’s position on illegal immigration. Still, Vatican officials recognized how the United States will provide valuable services to the most vulnerable, and both sides expressed their hopes for “gentle cooperation” between the Vatican, the Catholic Church as a whole, and the United States.
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Vance did not meet the Pope, and Vatican officials confirmed the Pope’s participation in Holy Week’s public and celebrations earlier this year for a continued recovery from a fatal respiratory infection.
According to a spokesman for the vice president, the meeting lasted just over an hour, and soon Vatican officials took their second family to see the Sistine Chapel.
The White House pool, who accompanied the Vice President on the trip, reported that he was prohibited from accompanying him at the meeting and initially not allowed to even stand within the city’s state, but was eventually moved to a designated corner of St. Peter’s Square. The press rejoined the second family on departure shortly after noon local time.
Vance, a Catholic convert, visited the Vatican on April 18th, attended Good Friday at St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican city, along with his wife and three children, after a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Vance’s participation in Holy Week, at the heart of the Catholic world, comes when the Trump administration promises to recognize Holy Week. Meloni said she was proud that her second family chose to spend Easter in Rome.
