Edited by: Fern Sidman

In a poignant and politically charged moment just hours before his death at the age of 88, Pope Francis received U.S. Vice President JD Vance for a brief Easter Sunday meeting at the Domus Santa Marta, the Vatican hotel where the pontiff resided during his final years. As The Associated Press reported, the encounter served as both a ceremonial exchange of Easter greetings and a final chapter in a tense relationship marked by deep differences over migration policy and Catholic doctrine.

The private meeting, which took place while Easter Mass was being celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, saw Pope Francis—still visibly weakened following a near-fatal bout of pneumonia—greet the Catholic vice president with personal warmth. According to the AP report, Francis offered Vance three large chocolate Easter eggs for his children, along with a Vatican tie and rosaries, symbolic gestures that belied the tension that had previously defined their long-distance disagreements.

“I know you have not been feeling great but it’s good to see you in better health,” said Vance, who knelt before the pope and thanked him for the opportunity to meet. “Thank you for seeing me.”

Vance’s motorcade entered Vatican City through a discreet side gate, intentionally avoiding the public fanfare of the papal Easter Mass. Francis, who had delegated the main liturgical duties to a cardinal due to his failing health, instead chose to spend his limited strength on this private, symbolic engagement.

As reported by the AP, the Vatican confirmed that the two met briefly to “exchange Easter greetings.” Vance’s office later said the vice president “expressed his gratitude to Pope Francis for inviting him to meet on Easter Sunday and for the hospitality the Vatican has extended to his family.” As the meeting concluded, Vance offered a deeply personal farewell: “I pray for you every day. God bless you.”

In all, the vice president’s motorcade remained within Vatican walls for just 17 minutes. The AP report indicated that following the visit, Vance and his family attended Easter Mass at St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of the four principal basilicas of Rome. The family also visited the tomb of St. Paul the Apostle, marking the religious significance of their pilgrimage.

The timing of the meeting—mere hours before Pope Francis’s death—added gravitas to an already weighty history between the two Catholic figures. As the AP report recalled, Vance, a convert to Catholicism in 2019 and a rising star in the populist right, has long championed strict immigration enforcement, aligning with President Trump’s migrant deportation policies. These stances put him in direct conflict with the late pope, who spent much of his papacy advocating for the dignity and protection of migrants and refugees.

In February, just before being hospitalized, Pope Francis issued a strongly worded condemnation of mass deportation policies. In a letter to U.S. bishops, he warned that such actions risk “depriving migrants of their inherent dignity,” the AP report said. Although not naming Vance directly, the pope appeared to be responding to the vice president’s recent remarks suggesting that Catholic doctrine justified harsh immigration policies—a claim that ignited widespread debate within the American Catholic community.

Francis’s position has been clear for years: the Church must extend its hand to the marginalized, and that includes refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented immigrants. His message stood in stark contrast to the political platforms promoted by the Trump-Vance alliance.

Vance, for his part, has acknowledged the rift. During a speech at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington on February 28, he did not directly respond to the pope’s critique but humbly referred to himself as a “baby Catholic,” admitting that there are “things about the faith that I don’t know,” as was reported by the AP. His remarks appeared to be a subtle attempt to reconcile his policy stance with the Church’s broader teachings, but they did little to mend the ideological chasm between him and the Holy See.

Still, Vance has maintained a consistent defense of his immigration views. He argued that the Church’s mission to protect the vulnerable can coexist with a sovereign nation’s right to defend its borders. It’s a balancing act that has polarized American Catholics and complicated the Vatican’s attempts to engage constructively with the Trump administration and its leadership.

As The Associated Press further reported, Vance also met on Saturday with the Vatican’s two top diplomats—Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the foreign minister. The meetings, while low-profile, were significant in scope.

According to Vance’s office, the vice president and Cardinal Parolin discussed “their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace.”

The Vatican offered a more measured account, stating that there was an “exchange of opinions,” particularly over “migrants and refugees” as well as “current conflicts.” The Holy See has long maintained a delicate stance of diplomatic neutrality, preferring engagement over confrontation. Still, the AP report noted that the Vatican has expressed alarm over Trump’s immigration policies, including cuts to international aid and aggressive border enforcement, as well as its broader concerns about U.S. foreign policy in Ukraine and Gaza.