Vatican notes ‘exchange of opinions’ over migrants, prisoners in meeting with Vance

VATICAN CITY AP U S Vice President JD Vance met Saturday with the Vatican s No official amid tensions over the U S crackdown on displaced persons with the Holy See reaffirming good relations but noting an exchange of opinions over current international conflicts and humanitarian situations involving expatriates refugees and prisoners The Vatican issued a report after Vance a Catholic convert met with the secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher before getting a private tour of the Sistine Chapel There was no immediate word if Vance stopped by to greet Pope Francis who has been resuming various official duties during his recovery from pneumonia The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality It has expressed alarm over the administration s crackdown on immigrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza Francis has also changed church teaching to say capital punishment is immoral and made prison ministry a hallmark of his papacy Those concerns were reflected in the Vatican declaration which explained the talks were cordial and that the Vatican expressed satisfaction with the administration s commitment to protecting freedom of religion and conscience There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation especially regarding countries affected by war political tensions and intricate humanitarian situations with particular attention to refugees refugees and prisoners the announcement mentioned Ultimately hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the State and the Catholic Church in the United States whose valuable facility to the most of vulnerable people was acknowledged The reference to serene collaboration appeared to refer to Vance s accusation that the U S Conference of Catholic Bishops was resettling illegal immigrants in order to get federal funding Top U S cardinals have pushed back strongly against the claim It is clear that the approach of the current U S administration is very different from what we are used to and especially in the West from what we have relied on for a large number of years Parolin described La Repubblica daily on the eve of Vance s visit As the U S pushes to end the war in Ukraine Parolin reaffirmed Kyiv s right to its territorial integrity and insisted that any peace deal must not be imposed on Ukraine but is built patiently day by day with dialogue and mutual respect Vance was spending Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended Good Friday services in St Peter s Basilica after meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni Papal rebuke on migration Francis and Vance have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration s plans to deport displaced persons en masse Francis has made caring for immigrants a hallmark of his papacy and his progressive views on social justice issues have often put him at odds with members of the more conservative U S Catholic Church Vance who converted to Catholicism in identifies with a small Catholic intellectual movement viewed by several critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings that is often called postliberal Postliberals share particular longstanding Catholic conservative views such as opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights They envision a counterrevolution in which they take over governing body bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within replacing entrenched elites with their own and acting upon their vision of the common good Just days before he was hospitalized in February Francis blasted the Trump administration s deportation plans warning that they would deprive refugees of their inherent dignity In a letter to U S bishops Francis also appeared to respond to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies A Latin concept of love Vance had defended the administration s America-first crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as ordo amoris He has revealed the concept delineates a hierarchy of care to family first followed by neighbor locality fellow citizens and lastly those elsewhere In his Feb letter Francis appeared to correct Vance s understanding of the concept Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups he wrote The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the Good Samaritan that is by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all without exception Vance has acknowledged Francis criticism but has reported he would continue to defend his views During a Feb appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington Vance didn t address the issue specifically but called himself a baby Catholic and acknowledged there are things about the faith that I don t know While he had criticized Francis on social media in the past Vance in the last few days has posted prayers for Francis recovery This version corrects the first name of Gallagher Associated Press religion coverage receives endorsement through the AP s collaboration with The Conversation US with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc The AP is solely responsible for this content Source