Top Vatican diplomats meet with Vice President JD Vance to discuss migrants, refugees

Earlier this month, the U.S. bishops' announced it was ending its contract with the U.S. government to resettle refugees and coordinate support services as a result of the Trump administration's budget cuts that had made the programs "untenable."

"There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners," the Vatican statement said.

Vance met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister. The Holy See Press Office described the meeting as cordial.

"Satisfaction was expressed for the good existing bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America," it said.

The statement said there was "common commitment to protect the right to freedom of religion and conscience." 

The closed-door meeting took place one day after Vance and his family attended the Vatican's Good Friday Passion service on April 18.

On Saturday (April 19), Vance returned to the Vatican for his first official encounter with the church's top diplomats since becoming the United States' first ever Catholic Republican vice president.

Vance's motorcade of more than 30 vehicles arrived at the Vatican around 10 a.m. local time and departed at noon. Helicopters hovered above Vatican City for the duration of his visit to the city-state and pilgrims were stopped from entering St. Peter's Square.

As of now, there has been no known meeting between Vance and the pope, who is currently recovering from a five-week hospitalization for double pneumonia, where he twice nearly lost his life. There is no indication yet if such a meeting will occur before Vance departs on Easter Sunday. 

After their meeting, the Vance family -- wife Usha, and their children: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.-- was given a tour of the Apostolic Palace and the Sistine Chapel, Catholic News Service reported.

"Oh, wow, look how beautiful this is," Vance could be heard saying on a Vatican video clip, CNS reported. Vance also could be heard saying he was proud of his children because "they mostly held it together" during the long Vatican Good Friday liturgy.

Just days before he fell ill, on Feb. 11, Francis penned a nearly unprecedented letter to the U.S. bishops. Although the pope did not directly name Vance in the letter, he explicitly rejected an interpretation of a theological concept that the vice president had relied on to defend the Trump administration's plans to deport millions of migrants.

In an interview with the Italian daily, La Repubblica, on the same day Vance arrived in Italy, Parolin said that the Trump administration's current engagement on a range of geopolitical issues is at odds with the Holy See.

“It is clear that the current U.S. administration's approach is very different from what we are used to and, especially in the West, from what we have relied on for many years," said the pope's top diplomat on April 18.

"The Holy See always strives to place the human person at the center, and many vulnerable people are suffering enormously, for example, due to cuts in humanitarian aid," said the Italian cardinal, in reference to the Trump administration's draconian budget cuts to foreign assistance.

Parolin also discussed the ongoing war against Hamas, describing Israel's bombardment of Gaza as "humanly horrific and morally unacceptable."

"Self-defense is legitimate," said Parolin, "but it can never involve the total or partial annihilation of another people or the denial of their right to live in their own land."

Regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Parolin cautioned that peace cannot be imposed. Parolin insisted that the starting point of any negotiations must be the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. "It is up to the Ukrainians themselves to decide what they are willing to negotiate or potentially concede from their perspective."

Vance, in a meeting Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire could still be brokered by U.S. "We do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close," Vance said. The BBC reported that Vance comments came hours after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the US would end peace talks if there were clear signs that a deal could be done.

Vance and his family are scheduled to depart on April 20 for India where he is expected to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.