Vance meets Pope Leo at Vatican, gives him a Bears jersey

3 days ago 9

Rome — Pope Leo XIV and Vice President JD Vance met astatine the Vatican connected Monday up of a flurry of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts aimed astatine making advancement connected a ceasefire successful Russia's warfare successful Ukraine. Vance, a Catholic convert, had led the U.S. delegation to the formal Mass opening the pontificate of the archetypal American pope. Joining him astatine the gathering connected Monday was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is besides Catholic, Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder said.

"There was an speech of views connected immoderate existent planetary issues, calling for respect for humanitarian instrumentality and planetary instrumentality successful areas of struggle and for a negotiated solution betwixt the parties involved," according to a Vatican connection aft their meeting.

There was besides a customary speech of gifts, with Vance presenting the Chicago-born pontiff a Bears jersey. The pope is besides a White Sox fan, his brother confirmed earlier this month.

The Vatican listed Vance's delegation arsenic the archetypal of respective backstage audiences Leo was having Monday with radical who had travel to Rome for his inaugural Mass, including different Christian leaders and a radical of faithful from his aged diocese successful Chiclayo, Peru.

Pope Leo XIV Meets With JD Vance And Marco Rubio, The Day After Inauguration Mass

The Vatican, which was mostly sidelined during the archetypal 3 years of Russia's penetration of Ukraine, has offered to big immoderate bid talks portion continuing humanitarian efforts to facilitate captive swaps and reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russia.

After greeting Leo concisely astatine the extremity of Sunday's Mass, Vance spent the remainder of the time successful abstracted meetings, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He besides met with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni, who said she hoped the trialateral gathering could beryllium a "new beginning."

In the evening, Meloni spoke by telephone with President Trump and respective different European leaders up of Mr. Trump's expected telephone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin connected Monday, according to a connection from Meloni's office.

Leo, the erstwhile Cardinal Robert Prevost, is simply a Chicago-born Augustinian missionary who spent the bulk of his ministry successful Chiclayo, a commercialized metropolis of astir 800,000 connected Peru's bluish Pacific coast.

In the days since his May 8 election, Leo has vowed "every effort" to assistance bring bid to Ukraine. He besides has emphasized his continuity with Pope Francis, who made caring for migrants and the mediocre a precedence of his pontificate.

Before his election, Prevost shared quality articles connected X that were captious of the Trump administration's plans for mass deportations of migrants.

Vance was 1 of the past overseas officials to conscionable with Francis earlier the Argentine pope's April 21 death. The 2 had tangled implicit migration, with Francis publically rebuking the Trump administration's deportation program and correcting Vance's theological justification for it.