JD Vance to meet Cardinal Parolin on Easter trip to Rome
The Catholic Herald• April 17, 2025
It has been confirmed that US Vice-President JD Vance and his family will travel to Italy at the end of Holy Week and spend Easter there, according to a news release from the Office of the Vice President.
The announcement follows recent speculation about a potential visit by Vance to Rome and the nature of the visit.
The US vice-president, who is arguably the US’s best known and most influential/controversial Catholic convert, will meet with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during his time in Rome, according to the news release.
There is no mention of whether Vance will meet with Pope Francis, who is still recovering from a serious respiratory illness that required him to stay in hospital for more than a month and during which he reportedly nearly died.
At the end of February, Vance responded to Pope Francis’s criticisms of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, when he attended the annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast held in the US capitol.
While not backing down from his more stringent immigration stance, the US vice-president was conciliatory in the speech he gave, commending the Holy Father for his care of his spiritual flock, and praying for his health and recovery following his hospitalisation.
“Every day since I heard of Pope Francis’s illness, I say a prayer for the Holy Father because while, yes, I was certainly surprised when he criticised our immigration policy in the way that he has [done so].
“I also know that the Pope, I believe that the Pope is fundamentally a person who cares about the flock of Christians under his leadership, and he’s a man who cares about the spiritual direction of the faith,” Vance said.
According to the news release about the forthcoming trip, Vance will also visit India after the Italian portion. During both stops, Vance plans to discuss shared economic and geopolitical priorities with the leaders of both governments. The full trip is scheduled from 18 April through 24 April.
Vance last traveled to Europe in mid-February to address the Munich Security Conference in Germany, during which he delivered a speech that chastised many of the continent’s countries for restricting free speech and religious liberty.
The US vice-president also ruffled feathers by focusing on the UK and the arrests of citizens of faith for silently praying near abortion clinics due to the implementation of laws such as Scotland’s “safe access zones” around such clinics and facilities.
After President Donald Trump was reelected in November 2024, Cardinal Parolin wished him “great wisdom because this is the main virtue of rulers according to the Bible”, reports the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
“I believe that, above all, he has to work to be the president of the whole country and so overcome the polarisation that has occurred, which can be very, very clearly felt at the moment,” Parolin said.
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Photo: US Vice President JD Vance leaves after speaking at the 20th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025. (Photo by TING SHEN/AFP via Getty Images)