Vice President JD Vance met with the newly appointed Pope Leo XIV on Monday, presenting him with a Chicago Bears soccer jersey. The primary American pope, born in Chicago in 1955, in flip offered Vance with a bronze sculpture engraved with an Italian phrase which means “peace is a fragile flower.”
“I was humbled and honored to meet Leo and lead the presidential delegation to Rome for his inaugural mass. We had a great conversation, and I know he is a true servant of God. I hope all Americans will join me in praying for the new pope as he begins his ministry,” Vance posted on X.
Later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Vance and the pope on the Vatican for a personal viewers the place no reporters have been current. The Vatican mentioned that the dialog was “an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved.”
Earlier than Leo was appointed pope, Vance cravenly adopted the lead of President Donald Trump, who shared AI-generated photos of himself as pope, which angered many Catholics, together with some cardinals.
Referring to Rubio, Vance posted on X, “I think he could take on a bit more. If only there was a job opening for a devout Catholic…”
However that wasn’t the primary time that Vance appeared to piss off the brand new pope.
In February, Leo criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans and shared an article titled: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others” on his personal X account. Though the Vatican has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of those now-deleted posts.
To not be overshadowed, Trump glowingly bloviated on Fact Social about his “two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia” on peace negotiations with Ukraine.
“The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!” he wrote.
Vance’s final go-around with a pope went poorly, because the late Pope Francis launched an Easter message that took direct pictures at Vance and Trump’s inhumane remedy of immigrants and refugees.
On the identical day of Vance’s assembly with Francis, Leo wrote a message on X that additionally appeared essential of the Trump administration.
“If we Christians and members of other religious traditions stand together, free from ideological and political conditioning, we can be effective in saying ‘no’ to war and ‘yes’ to peace, ‘no’ to an economy that impoverishes people and the Earth and ‘yes’ to integral development,” he wrote.
It’s actually surprising that Vance and Rubio didn’t burst into flames the second they stepped into the Vatican.
