Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday Ap, April 21, 2025. Just before his death, he met with a few people who were not from his inner circle. One of those was JD Vance.
After Pope’s death, JD Vance took to Twitter to pay his tribute. However, it seemed he couldn’t believe Pope had gotten to meet him, rather than the other way around.
Vice President JD Vance said it is “pretty crazy” that he was among the last persons to meet Pope Francis before the pontiff died at the age of 88.
JD Vance first met with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. He then took part in important religious ceremonies while in Italy over the Easter holiday. He also had a very brief meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. He met with the Pope in a hotel reception area. Since the Pope was recovering from illness, the meeting was very brief.
The Pope welcomed Vance despite his weakness and gave him blessings and gifts. The offered gifts included a Vatican tie, rosaries for his family, and three enormous chocolate Easter eggs for his kids.
Pope Francis met briefly with U.S. Vice President @JDVance on Easter Sunday. The private audience lasted a few minutes. They exchanged Easter greetings, and the pope gave Vance a Vatican tie, rosaries and a set of three large chocolate Easter eggs for his kids. pic.twitter.com/v48BsukaDQ
— EWTN News (@EWTNews) April 20, 2025
Later, when asked, JD Vance commented on the Pope’s health. He said that he looked “obviously very ill” when they met.
Vance posted his condolences on social media after the Pope’s demise. He posted on X.com, where he shared his thoughts and prayers with millions of Christians. He also posted about the moving homily that the Pope gave in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. He called it really beautiful and moving.
While people were mourning the passing of such an important religious leader, the internet was busy making jokes. As usual, JD Vance found himself at the centre of it. It started with Jack Schlossberg saying JD Vance killed Pope, and then the floodgates opened. Everyone had their memes ready, blaming Vance’s bad energy for the Pope’s passing.
Liz Truss killed The Queen. JD Vance killed the Pope. Can we just stop these people hanging out with the elderly?
Excellent side eye from Pope Francis here btw. pic.twitter.com/87hgqEw0WP— Hannah Brown (@_HannahJBrown) April 21, 2025
Even SNL artists joined in. In the days following the Pope’s death, “SNL” comic Bowen Yang called Vice President Vance a “pope killer” on “The View.”. The comment made the hosts and crowd chuckle. However, not everyone found it funny, but that’s okay. Everyone is entitled to their opinions.
Vance also talked about the Pope’s legacy and hailed him as a “great Christian pastor”. He also acknowledged the significant contributions the Pope made to both the globe and the Catholic Church. It is to be noted that the Donald Trump’s administration and JD Vance have very contrasting views on immigration and deportations.
.@VP on Pope Francis: “I’m not going to soil the man’s legacy by talking about politics, I think he was a great Christian pastor and that’s how I choose to remember the Holy Father.”pic.twitter.com/Tv6CGIxeq8
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) April 23, 2025
Yet, Vance understood and appreciated the importance of honouring the Pope’s spiritual leadership. He said that he would not soil the Pope’s legacy by talking about politics.
Vance may not agree with the humanity and humility with which the Pope approached the world, but it is not far-fetched to hope that his meeting with the Pope will give him insight into love and kindness. That would be a perfect tribute to Pope Francis’s legacy.
