ROME (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived in Rome on Friday for meetings with the Vatican No. 2 and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, fresh off the Italian leader’s visit to the White House a day earlier.
Meloni, who has positioned herself as a bridge between the U.S. and Europe, received praise from President Donald Trump for her crackdown on migration during a meeting at the Oval Office on Thursday.
Vance, who attended the meetings, was scheduled to meet with the Italian leader Friday in Rome and planned to attend Easter weekend events at the Vatican.
He was scheduled to meet with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the White House said.
No meeting with Pope Francis was announced. The 88-year-old pope has sharply cut back his work schedule as he recovers from a near-fatal case of double pneumonia.
Francis and Vance, a Catholic convert, have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse.
Just days before he was hospitalized, Francis blasted the administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity. In a letter to U.S. bishops, Francis also apparently responded to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.
Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he would continue to defend his views.
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