Pope Leo XIV spurned JD Vance on Sunday, providing only a fast greeting after his inaugural mass whereas holding intensive non-public conferences with different world leaders.
The primary American pope shook Vance’s hand throughout a quick, 17-second alternate in the course of the procession line after the mass.
Leo met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra on Sunday after celebrating his inaugural Mass, which included world leaders from Canada, Italy, Germany, and different European Union officers within the viewers.
The snub comes after the pope subtly criticized Vance and the Trump administration throughout his sermon, which has expelled and terrorized migrants and laid declare to international land and sources, together with Greenland.
“On this our time, we nonetheless see an excessive amount of discord, too many wounds attributable to hatred, violence, prejudice, the concern of distinction, and an financial paradigm that exploits the Earth’s sources and marginalizes the poorest,” Leo stated on Sunday.
The White Home responded to a request for touch upon whether or not Vance sought an extended assembly or whether or not one was within the works by referring queries to Vance’s workplace. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been set to fulfill with different European leaders on Sunday, together with Zelensky.
Earlier than he grew to become Pope Leo, Father Robert Prevost reposted a number of posts that took intention at Vance’s complicity within the Trump administration’s draconian immigration insurance policies. He reposted a Nationwide Catholic Reporter op-ed with the title “JD Vance is fallacious: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” and he shared different op-eds that highlighted the plight of migrants deported to El Salvador.
Vance side-stepped the criticism in an interview with Hugh Hewitt earlier this month. “I attempt to not play the politicization of the pope recreation,” he stated.
Vance’s historical past with pontiffs whereas vp has not been vibrant. Pope Francis criticized Vance’s protection of the immigration crackdown in a February letter to Catholic bishops, which Vance lodged on spiritual grounds.
“The act of deporting individuals who in lots of instances have left their very own land for causes of maximum poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or severe deterioration of the setting, damages the dignity of many women and men, and of complete households, and locations them in a state of specific vulnerability and defenselessness,” he wrote.
Vance stated in February he wouldn’t litigate “about who’s proper and who’s fallacious,” and he later met with Francis on April 20 on the Vatican, the place the pope obtained the vp for a quick non-public assembly and offered him with presents. Francis died the subsequent day.
Nonetheless, Vance has tried to fix his ties with Catholic management. He visited Pope Francis’ tomb on Saturday, posting on X that he was “praying for the repose of his soul.”
“He was beloved by many Catholics all over the world,” he stated.
Editor’s be aware: This story has been up to date to accurately characterize the White Home’s response.
