Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
Trump's announcement that he would be traveling to Rome for the ceremony followed a separate announcement he made earlier in the day indicating that he had ordered all American flags on government grounds, including military installments and embassies abroad, to fly at half-staff until sunset Monday.
Trump's relationship with Pope Francis over the years was one marked by ideological differences and – at times – tension.
Amid Trump's first run for office, Pope Francis criticized one of Trump's signature campaign promises of building a wall along the southern border, calling the move "not Christian" in 2016.
POPE FRANCIS AND US PRESIDENTS: A LOOK BACK AT HIS LEGACY WITH THE NATION'S LEADERS
"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," Francis told reporters during a mid-flight interview on his way to Mexico in 2016, according to a translation from the Associated Press.
Pope Francis meets the President of United States of America Donald Trump in the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace with his wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. Vatican City, May 24, 2017. (Vatican/Pool/Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori via Getty Images)
Trump, who considers himself a Christian but is not a Catholic, only met with Francis once during his first term. By contrast, Joe Biden, who is a confirmed Catholic, met with Francis in-person on multiple occasions throughout his single-term presidency.
Trump's Vice President J.D. Vance, a Catholic himself, was notably one of the Pope's last visitors, seeing him on Easter Sunday – one day before Francis passed.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-attend-pope-francis-funeral-rome-despite-contentious-past-look-forward-being-there