US Vice President JD Vance attends Good Friday liturgy at the Vatican
Elise Ann Allen/ Crux• April 18, 2025
ROME – United States Vice President JD Vance attended a Passion liturgy at the Vatican on Friday and plans to meet senior Vatican officials Saturday, amid tensions with Pope Francis and his top aides on multiple issues, including the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Mr Vance, a Catholic convert, arrived in Italy on Friday morning as part of an April 18-24 tour of Italy and India.
After arriving, he had a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni following Meloni’s own visit to Washington a day prior, where she met with Mr Vance and US President Donald Trump amid the United States’s ongoing trade war and growing anti-European sentiment within the Trump administration.
While she was in Washington, President Trump praised Miss Meloni’s anti-migration stance, while Miss Meloni announced that President Trump had accepted her invitation to visit Rome amid ongoing efforts to bridge the gap between the US and the EU amid tensions over Trump’s sprawling tariffs.
Mr Vance then attended a Passion Service for Good Friday in St Peter’s Basilica in the evening.
The Vice President’s mission to the Vatican comes after the Pope sharply criticised the administration’s mass deportation plans in a letter to the US bishops in February, arguing that “the rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality”.
“All the Christian faithful and people of good will are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa,” he said.
The Pope in that letter directly rebuked a statement Mr Vance had previously made in an interview implying that the Christian concept of love of neighbour begins close to home, saying love of one’s neighbour implies “a fraternity open to all, without exception”.
In a speech at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast several days later, Mr Vance acknowledged the Pope’s criticism and said that as a new Catholic, “I’m not ever going to get everything right,” but he defended the Trump administration’s position.
While in Rome, Mr Vance is also expected to have a private tour of the Colosseum with his family. He is also expected to attend a Vatican Easter liturgy, though it is currently unclear whether it will be the Easter Vigil on Saturday night, morning Mass on Easter Sunday, or both.
Mr Vance is scheduled to meet with Vatican Secretary of State Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin Saturday morning, amid speculation that me might also have a brief, private meeting with Pope Francis at some point during his visit, if the pontiff’s health permits.
(U.S. Vice President JD Vance seen next to his wife Usha Vance as they attend the Good Friday liturgy in St Peter’s Basilica. Photo by Kenny Holston – Pool/Getty Images)