The Pope’s last official meeting with a foreign dignitary was an awkward speeding encounter with JD Vance, Donald Trump’s unpopular Vice President.
Pope Francis I died aged 88 today, less than a month after he was discharged from hospital following a lengthy battle with severe pneumonia. The head of the Catholic Church had partially returned to public duties when the Vatican announced his death this morning, and passed his well wishes to members of the public gathered to hear the traditional Easter blessing on Sunday, although he stopped short of delivering the full address. He was seen on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica just moments after greeting the widely disliked US Vice President JD Vance in a minutes-long awkward encounter.
The Pope sat down with Mr Vance, a self-confessed “baby Catholic” who has previously been labelled a “Christofascist”, for a few minutes on Sunday for a “brief” chat and photo opportunity after having appeared to have been snubbed. During the brief meeting, video of which showed polite but subdued greetings on behalf of Francis, Mr Vance thanked him for agreeing to see him.
He told him: “I know you have not been feeling great but it’s good to see you in better health. Thank you for seeing me.” The Vatican said the two met “to exchange Easter greetings”, with the Pope offering three big Easter eggs for Mr Vance’s children, who were not there, with the Vice President’s motorcade spending a total of 17 minutes on Vatican land.
Before he left, Mr Vance could be heard saying: “I pray for you every day. God bless you.” A matter of hours later, the Pope was dead, and the Vice President issued a statement of his own on social media commemorating the man with whom he has ideologically clashed since converting to the religion he represented.
He wrote: “My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill.”
Mr Vance had previously met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, in the Apostolic Palace before the brief appointment with the Pope on Sunday. The Vice President’s office had described the meeting as a discussion of “shared religious faith” and “persecuted Christian communities”.
But in its own statement, the Vatican said instead that the figures had participated in an “exchange of opinions”. The statement read: “There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners
“Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”
Pope Francis has long expressed his displeasure with the Trump administration’s treatment of immigrants, with both Mr Trump and Mr Vance having presided over mass deportations since taking office in January. When the administration introduced its plans in February, the Pontiff sent a letter to US Bishops publicly slapping down the Vice President’s justification of the plans using Catholic concepts.
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