On Friday, Vice President JD Vance arrived in Rome with his family to attend Easter activities locally. They are expected to meet with high-ranking officials at the Vatican, but a meeting with the Pope is not anticipated.
As the highest-ranking Catholic in the U.S. government, Vance arrived in Rome, Italy on Friday and met with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He also attended Good Friday service at St. Peter’s Basilica and will visit religious and cultural sites with his family, as well as meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State.
There exists a significant divide between conservative American Catholics and the Pope on immigration policy. In the 2024 election, most conservative American Catholics supported Trump, while the Pope criticized Trump’s large-scale expulsion of illegal immigrants policy, being viewed as too liberal by conservatives.
Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019, and his faith deeply influences his political beliefs and policy positions.
Over the past few months, conflicts have arisen between the Trump administration and the Catholic Church on immigration issues. Trump’s hardline stance sharply contrasts with the progressive, pro-immigrant position supported by the Pope. This dispute peaked in February this year when the Pope harshly criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies in a rare letter to American bishops, also chastising Vance for a misunderstanding of a medieval theological concept.
This letter surprised some American Catholics and government officials, including Vance himself. White House’s ‘Border Affairs Chief’ Homan, as a lifelong Catholic, criticized the Pope, saying, “He should clean up the church and focus on his work, not meddle in border law enforcement. We protect the border, but he criticizes? There are walls around the Vatican where he lives.”
Vance responded at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in February, saying, “I’m not here to argue right or wrong with the Pope or other clergy. My goal is to advocate for immigration policies that serve the best interests of the American people.”
This division reflects the significant gap between conservative American Catholics and Pope Francis, a leader who strongly supports immigrants.
Steve Cortes, a senior political consultant at CatholicVote, stated, “Catholics across America generally identify more with JD Vance’s views on immigration policy than the positions of these church leaders.”
As early as 2020, Vance discussed this division in an article, writing, “I increasingly feel that too many American Catholics lack the proper respect for the Pope, seeing him as a political figure to be praised or criticized at will.”
Trump identifies as a non-denominational Christian but appointed several Catholics to high-level government positions, including Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Small Business Administration Director Kelly Loeffler, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Border Affairs Commissioner Tom Homan.
Steve Cortes stated, “President Trump, while not a Catholic, holds deep respect for Catholics and many Catholic leaders.”
At the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in February, Vance expressed, “Protecting religious freedom for everyone, especially Catholics, I think we can say that President Trump, while not a Catholic, has been one of the most friendly and beneficial presidents to Catholics in American history.”