Pope meets J.D. Vance for Easter greeting

Pope Francis held a private meeting at the Vatican this morning with the U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

Vance, a Catholic who has clashed with the pontiff over the Trump administration's immigration policies, met Francis at his Vatican residence to exchange Easter greetings, the statement said.

"Pope Francis had a brief private encounter ... lasting a few minutes, in order to exchange good wishes on Easter day," said the statement.

Vance, who has been visiting Italy with his family this weekend, met senior Vatican officials for more formal talks. The pope, who is recovering from double pneumonia, did not take part in those discussions.

The pope and Vatican officials have criticised several of the policies of President Donald Trump's administration, including his plans to deport millions of migrants from the U.S. and his widespread cuts to foreign aid and domestic welfare programs.

Francis has called the immigration crackdown a "disgrace." Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, has cited medieval-era Catholic teaching to justify the policy.

The pope rebutted the theological concept Vance used to defend the crackdown in an unusual open letter to the U.S. Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, and called Trump's plan a "major crisis" for the United States.

Also Pope Francis entered St. Peter's Square in an open-air popemobile for the first time since surviving double pneumonia, greeting tens of thousands of Catholics after the Vatican's celebration of Easter Mass.

The 88-year-old pope sat in a raised chair in the back of the white vehicle, as people lined the aisles inside the square, many holding aloft national flags and shouting "viva il papa!" (long live the pope!).

The popemobile briefly stopped at several points around the square, decorated with colourful flowers for Easter, as papal aides brought forward children from the crowd for Francis to bless. The pope gestured with his hands, but only raised them slightly.

Francis, who has been limiting his workload on doctors' orders, did not preside over the Vatican's Easter Mass.