US Vice President JD Vance, attended the Good Friday liturgy at St. Peter’s Basilica on April 18 as part of a six-day diplomatic trip to Europe and India. Vance’s visit comes at a time of palpable tension between the Vatican and the White House over immigration policy, and as the Holy See (A central governing body of the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican City State) prepares to involve US authorities in a major financial scandal tied to a once-powerful lay Catholic group.
Vance, accompanied by his wife Usha and their three children, took part in the solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion, presided over by Italian Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti. The family entered the basilica under heavy security just before the 5 pm service began.
Pope Francis, still recovering from a severe bout of pneumonia, was notably absent from the liturgy. Although the 88-year-old pontiff has resumed select public appearances—including a surprise Holy Thursday visit to a Roman prison—he has yet to confirm his attendance at other Holy Week celebrations.
Earlier in the day, Vance met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Palazzo Chigi. The two reaffirmed US-Italy ties and discussed ongoing trade disputes and international security, particularly the war in Ukraine. Meloni, who had just returned from a White House visit with President Trump, warmly welcomed Vance, joking that she had “really been missing him.”
Additionaly in remarks to the press, Vance expressed cautious optimism about progress in Ukraine and hinted at “big trade negotiations” on the horizon.
A papal rebuke and theological rifts
Even though things looked friendly on the surface in Rome, tensions between the Vatican and the Trump administration have simmered for months. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, has drawn criticism from US bishops and the Vatican alike for his public remarks suggesting that the Church’s support for migrants is financially motivated.
In January, he controversially invoked the medieval Catholic concept of ordo amoris—a hierarchy of love prioritizing family and country over outsiders—to defend the administration's mass deportation plans. In response, Pope Francis issued a rare public correction in a February 10 letter to US bishops, stressing that Christian love is not an inward spiral of interests, but a fraternity “open to all, without exception.”
Despite the friction, Vance has repeatedly expressed respect for Francis, praying for the pope during the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington on February 28, even as he brushed off the Vatican's criticism. “We are not called as Christians to obsess over every social media controversy,” Vance said.
A diplomatic crossroads
Vance’s meeting Saturday with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State and the second-highest-ranking official after the pope, may touch on the SCV scandal and the Vatican’s request for American cooperation. While neither side has confirmed whether Pope Francis will personally meet with the vice president, sources say the possibility remains open.
“I’m grateful every day for this job, but particularly today where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday,” Vance posted on social media. “He died so that we might live.”
Following his Rome visit, Vance is expected to travel to India on April 21 for the second leg of his foreign trip.
Vance, accompanied by his wife Usha and their three children, took part in the solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion, presided over by Italian Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti. The family entered the basilica under heavy security just before the 5 pm service began.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, a Catholic convert, attends the Good Friday service at the Vatican with his family
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) April 18, 2025
Video: Vatican Media pic.twitter.com/vUhqWEFqaS
Pope Francis, still recovering from a severe bout of pneumonia, was notably absent from the liturgy. Although the 88-year-old pontiff has resumed select public appearances—including a surprise Holy Thursday visit to a Roman prison—he has yet to confirm his attendance at other Holy Week celebrations.
Earlier in the day, Vance met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Palazzo Chigi. The two reaffirmed US-Italy ties and discussed ongoing trade disputes and international security, particularly the war in Ukraine. Meloni, who had just returned from a White House visit with President Trump, warmly welcomed Vance, joking that she had “really been missing him.”
Additionaly in remarks to the press, Vance expressed cautious optimism about progress in Ukraine and hinted at “big trade negotiations” on the horizon.
A papal rebuke and theological rifts
Even though things looked friendly on the surface in Rome, tensions between the Vatican and the Trump administration have simmered for months. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, has drawn criticism from US bishops and the Vatican alike for his public remarks suggesting that the Church’s support for migrants is financially motivated.
In January, he controversially invoked the medieval Catholic concept of ordo amoris—a hierarchy of love prioritizing family and country over outsiders—to defend the administration's mass deportation plans. In response, Pope Francis issued a rare public correction in a February 10 letter to US bishops, stressing that Christian love is not an inward spiral of interests, but a fraternity “open to all, without exception.”
Despite the friction, Vance has repeatedly expressed respect for Francis, praying for the pope during the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington on February 28, even as he brushed off the Vatican's criticism. “We are not called as Christians to obsess over every social media controversy,” Vance said.
A diplomatic crossroads
Vance’s meeting Saturday with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State and the second-highest-ranking official after the pope, may touch on the SCV scandal and the Vatican’s request for American cooperation. While neither side has confirmed whether Pope Francis will personally meet with the vice president, sources say the possibility remains open.
“I’m grateful every day for this job, but particularly today where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday,” Vance posted on social media. “He died so that we might live.”
I’m grateful every day for this job, but particularly today where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday. I had a great meeting with Prime Minister Meloni and her team, and will head to church soon with my family in this beautiful city.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 18, 2025
I wish all Christians…
Following his Rome visit, Vance is expected to travel to India on April 21 for the second leg of his foreign trip.
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