JD Vance Slams Vatican Meeting as 'Unsettling' Before Pope Francis' Death

JD Vance, the Vice President, unleashes a brutal critique of the Vatican in his memoir, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.

In this explosive account, Vance recounts his April meeting with church officials, where he faced Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Vance reveals that their conversation veered into the contentious topic of migration, but he found the tone “unsettling.”

“Here I was, the most senior Catholic in the United States government, and the Vatican seemed unwilling to move its moral guidance past the point of trite platitudes,” he wrote.

Parolin acknowledged U.S. sovereignty over its borders while urging humane treatment of migrants under the Trump administration.

However, Vance claims the diplomats “never specified” which tough immigration policies they opposed, opting instead for a vague diplomatic approach.

Vance further criticized the Vatican’s top officials, stating that an institution with significant moral authority appeared too fearful to voice anything controversial, effectively choosing silence.

This meeting occurred just before Vance’s face-to-face encounter with Pope Francis on Easter morning, a mere 24 hours before the pontiff's death.

Concerns loomed over the meeting due to the Pope’s declining health, with both Vatican and American diplomats anxious about potential perceptions of a snub if it fell through.

During Good Friday Mass at St Peter’s Basilica, a priest informed Vance that the Pope had yet to decide on attending their meeting.

Vance reassured that the Pope “should feel under no pressure to see me,” but later received a text on Easter morning confirming Francis could meet.

Upon meeting, Vance noted that the pontiff appeared “more fragile than I realized.”

Afterward, he called his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, from the car, describing Francis as being in “very bad shape” but noted his kindness in giving gifts for their children.

Upon arriving in India, Vance learned of Francis’s death from one of his Catholic staffers.

“We had different jobs, and I preferred his specific exhortations to the vagueness I had encountered during our Vatican meeting,” he stated. “Better to have an honest conversation than one masked by cliches.”

Vance has since urged Francis’s successor, American-born Pope Leo XIV, to “be careful” when discussing theological matters at an April event.

He also advised Leo, who has criticized immigration policies, to concentrate on “matters of morality.”