Davide Ghiglione & Bernd Debusmann Jr. in Washington, DC
BBC News, Washington
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JD Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 at the age of 35.
When US Vice President JD Vance arrives in Rome on Friday, he is scheduled to meet the Italian Prime Minister and the Vatican Secretary of State.
But one of his main objectives is to be seen with Pope Francis, not with the official schedule.
According to four sources familiar with the issue, the vice president, dev Roman Catholic, wants at least a brief encounter with the 88-year-old clergy, and that would be the focus of his visit.
Such moments will carry powerful symbolic weights, politically and personally, especially in Easter, the most important celebration of the Catholic calendar, a source familiar with his thinking, said.
It was also able to demonstrate the melting of Vatican-Washington relationship after months of tensions over issues such as moral leadership and migration.
“Pope Francis and J.D. Vance are the most prominent Catholics of today, one of the heads of the church and Catholic class, and the other lays on an amateur basis, who is now the vice president of the United States,” says Father Roberto Legoli, a history professor at the church at Pope Gregorio University.
“The meeting between the leaders of two global forces of this caliber will be of immeasurable symbolic importance.”
The Vatican has not confirmed a formal or informal meeting with Vance, as the White House and the Vice President’s office did not respond to questions from the BBC about Vance’s trip.
Pope Francis is in poor health after five weeks of hospitalization for dual pneumonia.
Since returning to the Vatican a month ago, he has cancelled most of his official appointments.
However, as his condition improved, Pope Francis began to appear in surprise – last week he met King Charles III and Queen Camilla temporarily during an official visit to Italy.
“The photo with Pope Francis is a big victory for JD Vance, which would also reflect Pope Francis’ comprehensive approach – everyone is welcome and willing to meet, even those with different visions and values.”
But if there were no encounters, he would add, and there would inevitably be speculation about the health of the Snub and the Pope.
Watch: Pope seen without the usual pope attire
The potential meeting with the Pope is uncertain, but another encounter remains firmly fixed for several weeks – a formal handshake with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The Catholic herself and standard in charge of European populist rights, she is politically in line with the US administration and shares their belief that she will take a tough stance on migration.
She is expected to receive the vice president of the bilateral meeting during his visit when she returns from Washington, D.C., where she met Donald Trump on Thursday.
The conference offers a further glimpse into the ideological alliance that Vance hopes to nurture in Europe, as Meloni emerged as a natural mediator between the US and the EU, particularly on troublesome issues such as tariffs and trade.
According to Italian officials, Vance and Meloni will later be joined by two Italian vice ministers, Matteo Salvini of the league and Antonio Tajani of Forza Italy.
Vance’s visit was his first visit to Europe as he delivered the broadside of ideology to European leaders at the Munich Security Conference in February.
He accused them of giving up their freedom of speech, falling into political correctness and losing contact with citizens on issues such as immigration and national identity.
Friction with continental leaders also extends to the Vatican. In the Vatican, relations with the Trump administration are strained by hard immigration policies facing pushes from Catholic leaders and Pope Francis.
Reducing refugee programs, prospects for large-scale deportation plans, arrests at places of worship, and efforts to curb birthright citizenship have been accused by the Conference of the U.S. Bishops of the United States Conference of Bishops of being in opposition to the common interests.
Pope Francis himself fostered a more compassionate response to migration, based on gospel teachings and the parables of the good Samaritans.
In a letter to the US Bishop in February, he expressed concern over the administration’s policies and implicitly challenged Vance’s attempts to justify the crackdown on immigration using Catholic doctrines, saying “Christians are very well aware that it is only positive by reaching our own identity and communication as people.”
“The meeting between Pope Francis and J.D. Vance will certainly highlight the harsh contrast between their Catholic vision,” Gibson said.
“Even so, the meeting will serve both men – for Vance, a photograph with the Pope could soften the perception that he is an opponent of the Church. For Francis, it demonstrates his welcoming approach and, importantly, a photograph with JD Vance. [another] An important step for him to return to his official duties. ”
Others also see Vance’s interests when it comes to meetings and photographing men leading the planet’s 1.2 billion Catholics, when it comes to meetings and photographs.
He will spend time with the highly ranked Vatican officials, Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. And he is expected to attend the ceremony around Easter Sunday.
The Vice President came to faith relatively late. Growing up in a largely unwieldy evangelical family, Vance attracted some of his adolescence to the Pentecostal church, but later abandoned the organized religion altogether.
Until August 2019, at age 35, he was officially converted to Catholicism at a Dominican monastery in Cincinnati. Ohio.
The decision was explained by him from the quest for moral and philosophical frameworks that allowed him to understand the social disruption he recorded in his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy.
In a 2020 essay in the Catholic magazine The Lamp, Vance wrote openly about his spiritual turn, explaining the need for a worldview that could explain both personal responsibility and structural injustice.
