Vice President JD Vance said it was “a great blessing” for him to have met Pope Francis on Sunday just hours before he died, saying he is choosing to remember the pontiff as “a great Christian pastor” and not for his strident criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
“I’ve thought a lot about that,” Vance said of the meeting, speaking to reporters in India on Wednesday. “I mean, it’s pretty crazy, actually, and obviously when I saw him, I didn’t know that he had less than 24 hours still on this earth.”
Vance, a Catholic convert who has feuded with leaders of his faith over the administration’s immigration crackdown, spent Easter weekend with his family in Rome, where he met with Vatican officials on Saturday. In a statement, the Vatican described the conversation as an “exchange of opinions” on “migrants, refugees and prisoners.” Vance then had a brief meeting with Pope Francis on Sunday.
Hours later, Francis died from a stroke and cardiac arrest.
In February, Pope Francis, a vocal advocate for migrants and refugees, called President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts “a major crisis” and urged Catholics “not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters.” He also appeared to correct Vance’s interpretation of medieval Catholic theology, which the VP invoked to defend the administration.
In his remarks Wednesday, Vance acknowledged that the pope “had some disagreements with some of the policies of this administration.” But, he added, “I’m not going to soil the man’s legacy by talking about politics. I think he was a great Christian pastor, and that’s how I choose to remember the Holy Father.”
Despite being a fierce defender of the Trump administration’s draconian policies, Vance praised the pope’s advocacy for marginalized communities and spoke glowingly of Francis’ empathy as an embodiment of Catholic faith. “People on the margins, poor people, people suffering from diseases, they saw in Pope Francis an advocate,” Vance said, “and, I think, a true expression of Christian love.”
