Vice President JD Vance and his family met Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's ecretary of state Saturday. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)
He and 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," Vance’s office said.
Pope Francis has cut back his official meetings since a bout with double pneumonia.
The Vatican has clashed with the Trump administration over its deportation push, but the Holy See affirmed its good relations with the United States after the meeting.
The vice president’s Vatican meeting Saturday is part of an official trip to Italy and India.
Vance and his family leaving Rome's Botanic Gardens Saturday. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
The meeting came a day after President Trump met with Meloni at the White House to discuss a trade deal.
U.S. Bishop Robert Barron, who, along with being bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota, is also an online evangelist and founder of Word on Fire Ministries, told Fox News Digital he "was pleased to hear that Vice President JD Vance met with Cardinal Parolin and Archbishop Gallagher at the Vatican.
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"American Catholics will appreciate that our Catholic Vice President was received with such a warm welcome. I'm sure that among the many topics they addressed were immigration and the war in the Ukraine, both of which are top of mind for both the Holy See and the United States.
"The Vice President, as a Catholic, shares a common faith with his Vatican interlocutors, but also a common language in Catholic social teaching, which brings to bear into political and cultural realities moral and theological principles, insights and recommendations."
The vice president is expected to leave Italy for India, the second leg of his trip, on Monday, where he’ll meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jd-vance-exchange-opinions-issues-deportations-meeting-top-vatican-official