The Pope Leo XIV plans to meet with the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, who is a Catholic convert and will attend the inaugural mass of the Pontificate at the Vatican this Sunday, May 18.
The information was confirmed by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who explained that the program and organization of the mass, with guests from over 200 delegations from around the world, are very complex. However, he indicated that the protocol team is working on the organization of this meeting.
Vance was also the last international politician to meet with Pope Francis before his death.
The Pope would propose the Vatican for peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia
A possible bilateral meeting between Leo XIV and Vance is likely to address international contingency issues such as the war between Russia and Ukraine.
After the decision of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, not to attend the direct negotiations to which his Ukrainian counterpart had summoned him in Turkey, the Vatican is being considered as a possible venue for the talks. “The situation is very difficult and dramatic,” Parolin pointed out.
The Secretary of State of the Vatican commented that Pope Leo XIV plans to “possibly make the Holy See available for a direct meeting between both parties.” The Pontiff called for “authentic, just, and lasting peace” in Ukraine “as soon as possible” during his first Regina Caeli this past Sunday.
Cardinal Prevost’s tweets against Vance
Before being elected Pontiff, Cardinal Robert Prevost echoed in his latest posts about X two articles criticizing the migration policies of Donald Trump’s government, with direct references to JD Vance.
On February 13th, Prevost published on his account (which was closed once he became pontiff) an article from American Magazine, which he titled with the words “Pope Francis’s letter, JD Vance’s ‘ordo amoris,’ and what the Gospel asks of all of us regarding immigration.”
Shortly before, on February 3rd, Prevost reposted an article from the National Catholic Reporter titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to classify our love for others.”