2 weeks Ago By Associated Press
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.Second Lady Usha Vance looks back at U.S.
Vice President JD Vance, carrying their daughter Mirabel as they disembark Air Force Two upon arriving at G.B. Pastine–Rome Ciampino Airport, Friday April 18, 2025.
(Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)Vice President JD Vance, carrying their daughter Mirabel and Second Lady Usha Vance disembark Air Force Two upon arriving at G.B. Pastine–Rome Ciampino Airport, Friday April 18, 2025.
(Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)U.S. Vice President JD Vance, second right, is greeted by Italian government officials upon arriving at G.
B. Pastine–Rome Ciampino Airport, Friday April 18, 2025. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)Italian government officials look on as Vice President JD Vance and family arrive at G.
B. Pastine–Rome Ciampino Airport, onboard Air Force Two, Friday April 18, 2025. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)Vice President JD Vance arrives in Rome, Friday April 18, 2025.
(Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)Show Caption1 of 5Second Lady Usha Vance looks back at U.S. Vice President JD Vance, carrying their daughter Mirabel as they disembark Air Force Two upon arriving at G.
B. Pastine–Rome Ciampino Airport, Friday April 18, 2025. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)ExpandVance, 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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