Vice-president JD Vance met Pope Francis in the Vatican on Easter Sunday, said a spokesperson for the vice-president, during a rare meeting after the two men have Fortling strongly on immigration And the Trump administration plans to deport migrants en masse. t
Francis has made the care of migrants a characteristic of its papacy and its progressive opinions on questions of social justice have often disagreed it with the members of the more conservative American Catholic Church.
Francis has also changed teaching from the Church to say that capital punishment is unacceptable in all cases.
Meanwhile, Vance had defended the repression of the administration in America by quoting a concept of medieval Catholic theology known in Latin under the name of “Ordo Amoris”. He declared that the concept delimits a hierarchy of care – with the family first, followed by the neighbor, the community, the other citizens and finally those elsewhere.
In a letter of February 10, Francis seemed to correct the understanding of the concept.
“Christian love is not a concentrate expansion of interests that extends roughly to other people and groups,” he wrote. “The real Amoris Ordo which must be promoted is that which we discover by constantly meditating on the parable of” good Samaritan “, that is to say by meditating love which builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
Vance has Criticism of Francis Recognized But said that he would continue to defend his opinions. During an appearance on February 28 at the national breakfast of Catholic prayer in Washington, Vance did not address the question specifically but qualified as “Catholic baby” and recognized that there are “things on the faith that I do not know”.
Vatican Media / AP
Vance spent the Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended the Good Friday services in the Saint-Pierre basilica after meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. On Saturday, the vances made a private visit to the Sistine Chapel and the Vice-President met the N ° 2 manager of the Vatican.
The Holy See reaffirmed good relations with Vance after the meeting on Saturday, but noted “an exchange of opinions” on international conflicts, migrants and current prisoners.
The Vatican said that Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. Nothing indicates that Vance met Pope Francis, who slowly resumed certain official functions when he restored pneumonia.
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The Holy See responded with caution to the Trump administration, taking into account its tradition of diplomatic neutrality, expressing the alarm in the face of the repression of the administration against migrants and the cuts of international aid.
These concerns reflected in the Vatican Declaration on Saturday, which said that talks were cordial and that he expressed his satisfaction with the administration’s commitment to protect freedom of religion and conscience.
“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, in particular with regard to countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners,” the statement said. “Finally, Hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the State and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose precious service to the most vulnerable people has been recognized.”
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The reference to “serene collaboration” seemed to refer to the accusation of Vance according to which the American conference of Catholic bishops was View “illegal immigrants” to obtain federal funding. The best American cardinals strongly rejected the complaint.
“It is clear that the approach of the current American administration is very different from what we are used to and, in particular in the West, what we have relied for many years,” Parolin told the Repubblica on the eve of Vance’s visit.
The vice-president’s office confirmed the meeting between Vance and Paroline, affirming that they “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the fate of the Christian communities persecuted in the world and the commitment of President Trump to restore world peace.”
There was no mention of the details proposed by the Vatican.
contributed to this report.