Vatican Hints at Pope Disagreeing With Vance During First Sit-Down
Vice President JD Vance finally got a sit-down with Pope Leo XIV a day after the pontiff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky instead.
Vance was in Rome on Sunday for Leo's inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square. Although Leo offered the vice president a quick greeting afterward and shook the vice president's hand, he only held private meetings with Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment Sunday on whether Vance had sought a longer meeting with the new pope after their initial exchange lasted about 17 seconds.
But on Monday, Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Leo for 'cordial talks' about bilateral relations, religious freedom, and international affairs, the Vatican's press office said in a statement.
The statement said there had been an 'exchange of views on some current international issues,' which the Catholic News Agency took to be a reference to disagreements.
'I was humbled and honored to meet Pope Leo XIV and lead the presidential delegation to Rome for his inaugural mass,' Vance said of the meeting Monday on X. '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.'
The Daily Beast has reached out to Vance's team for comment.
According to the news outlet, the 45-minute audience—which was closed to reporters—began with a one-on-one between Vance and Leo, with Rubio joining afterward. Vance's wife Usha, Rubio's wife, Jeanette, and a larger U.S. delegation then joined for the customary exchange of gifts.
Photos posted on Instagram by the official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano show they brought the first North American pontiff—who grew up in Chicago—a Chicago Bears jersey emblazoned with 'Pope Leo XIV' and a copy of a tome by St. Augustine, The Washington Post reported.
Leo is a member of the Augustinian religious order, while Vance has written that St. Augustine inspired him to convert to Catholicism in 2019.
After receiving Vance, Rubio and their wives Monday, Leo met with the president of Colombia, the prime minister of Australia, the president of Georgia, and various religious leaders from around the world, according to the Vatican.
Since being chosen as Pope Francis' successor on May 8, Leo has taken a number of stances that contrast with President Donald Trump's administration policies, including calling for governments to build bridges and respect migrants, protect the environment and care for the poor.
Before he became pope, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost shared multiple social media posts criticizing the Trump administration's immigration policies.
One linked to a National Catholic Reporter op-ed headlined 'JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others,' while another took aim at the administration for deporting Venezuelan and Salvadoran migrants to a mega prison in El Salvador.
American officials have tried to paint the administration as aligned with Leo's stated goals of using the papacy as a force for peace and help ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, according to the Post.
But unlike Trump and his officials—who have repeated Kremlin talking points and even berated Zelensky in the Oval Office—Leo appears to be firmly on the side of Ukraine.
On Sunday, his secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Leo had offered to use the Vatican for peace talks after Russian President Vladimir Putin blew off a planned summit in Istanbul, La Stampa reported. Vance also posted a smiling picture with Zelensky from a meeting Sunday.
According to the Post, it will also be difficult for Trump and Vance to portray themselves as peacemakers as the administration authorizes billions of dollars in weapons sales to Israel, which has voted to capture all of Gaza and occupy the territory indefinitely.
Last week, NBC News reported that the U.S. was working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya. The State Department denied the report, but Trump himself has said he wants to turn Gaza into the 'Riviera of the Middle East.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Russian drone and missile attacks kill 2 and wound 13 in Ukraine
Russia sent waves of drones and missiles in an attack on two Ukrainian cities early Tuesday that killed two people and wounded at least thirteen others, Ukrainian officials said. A maternity hospital and residential buildings in the center of the southern port city of Odesa were damaged in the attack, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. Two people were killed and nine injured in the city, according to a statement from the regional prosecutor's office. Four people were injured in the attack on the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Associated Press journalists heard explosions and the buzzing of drones around the city for hours. 3 An explosion of a drone is seen during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 10, 2025. REUTERS The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases. Plumes of smoke were visible in Kyiv as air defense forces worked to shoot down drones and missiles Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Ukrainian residents took shelter and slept in metro stations during the hours-long attack. Nina Nosivets, 32, and her 8-month-old son Levko were among them. 'I just try not to think about all this, silently curled up like a mouse, wait until it all passes, the attacks. Distract the child somehow because its probably the hardest thing for him to bear,' she said. 3 People rest in a metro station, being used as a bomb shelter, during a Russian drones attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, June 10, 2025. AP 3 A resident reacts as he passes by burning debris following Russia's missile and drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. AP Krystyna Semak, a 37-year-old Kyiv resident, said the explosions frightened her and she ran to the metro at 2 a.m. with her rug. Russia has been launching a record-breaking number of drones and missiles targeting Ukraine while the two countries continue to swap prisoners of war, the only tangible outcome of recent direct peace talks held in Istanbul. A ceasefire, long sought by Kyiv, remains elusive. In Kyiv, fires broke out in at least four districts after debris from shot down drones fell on the roofs of residential buildings and warehouses, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. Vasyl Pesenko, 25, stood in his kitchen, damaged in the attack. 'I was lying in bed, as always hoping that these Shaheds (drones) would fly past me, and I heard that Shahed (that hit the house),' he said. 'I thought that it would fly away, but it flew closer and closer and everything blew away.'
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Russian drone and missile attacks, one of the biggest in the war, kill 2 and wound 13 in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia sent waves of drones and missiles in an attack on two Ukrainian cities early Tuesday that killed two people and wounded at least thirteen others, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an online statement called the attack 'one of the biggest' in the war that has raged for over three years, saying Moscow's forces fired over 315 drones, mostly Shaheds, and seven missiles at Ukraine overnight. 'Russian missile and Shahed strikes are louder than the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace,' Zelenskyy wrote, urging 'concrete action' from the United States and Europe in response to the attack. A maternity hospital and residential buildings in the center of the southern port city of Odesa were damaged in the attack, regional head Oleh Kiper said. Two people were killed and nine injured in the city, according to a statement from the regional prosecutor's office. Four people were injured in the attack on the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Associated Press journalists heard explosions and the buzzing of drones around the city for hours. The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases. Plumes of smoke were visible in Kyiv as air defense forces worked to shoot down drones and missiles Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Ukrainian residents took shelter and slept in metro stations during the hourslong attack. Nina Nosivets, 32, and her 8-month-old son Levko were among them. 'I just try not to think about all this, silently curled up like a mouse, wait until it all passes, the attacks. Distract the child somehow because its probably the hardest thing for him to bear,' she said. Krystyna Semak, a 37-year-old Kyiv resident, said the explosions frightened her and she ran to the metro at 2 a.m. with her rug. Russia has been launching a record-breaking number of drones and missiles targeting Ukraine while the two countries continue to swap prisoners of war, the only tangible outcome of recent direct peace talks held in Istanbul. A ceasefire, long sought by Kyiv, remains elusive. In Kyiv, fires broke out in at least four districts after debris from shot down drones fell on the roofs of residential buildings and warehouses, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. Vasyl Pesenko, 25, stood in his kitchen, damaged in the attack. 'I was lying in bed, as always hoping that these Shaheds (drones) would fly past me, and I heard that Shahed (that hit the house),' he said. 'I thought that it would fly away, but it flew closer and closer and everything blew away.' The Russian attack sparked 19 fires across Ukraine, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram. 'Russia must answer for every crime it commits. Until there is justice, there will be no security. For Ukraine. And for the world,' he said. The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday morning reported downing 102 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The drones were downed both over regions on the border with Ukraine and deeper inside Russia, including central Moscow and Leningrad regions, according to the Defense Ministry's statement. Because of the drone attack, flights were temporarily restricted in and out of multiple airports across Russia, including all four airports in Moscow and the Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, the country's second largest city. —— AP journalist Illia Novikov contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Russian drone and missile attacks, one of the biggest in the war, kill 2 and wound 13 in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia sent waves of drones and missiles in an attack on two Ukrainian cities early Tuesday that killed two people and wounded at least thirteen others, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an online statement called the attack 'one of the biggest' in the war that has raged for over three years, saying Moscow's forces fired over 315 drones, mostly Shaheds, and seven missiles at Ukraine overnight. 'Russian missile and Shahed strikes are louder than the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace,' Zelenskyy wrote, urging 'concrete action' from the United States and Europe in response to the attack. A maternity hospital and residential buildings in the center of the southern port city of Odesa were damaged in the attack, regional head Oleh Kiper said. Two people were killed and nine injured in the city, according to a statement from the regional prosecutor's office. Four people were injured in the attack on the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Associated Press journalists heard explosions and the buzzing of drones around the city for hours. The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases. Plumes of smoke were visible in Kyiv as air defense forces worked to shoot down drones and missiles Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Ukrainian residents took shelter and slept in metro stations during the hourslong attack. Nina Nosivets, 32, and her 8-month-old son Levko were among them. 'I just try not to think about all this, silently curled up like a mouse, wait until it all passes, the attacks. Distract the child somehow because its probably the hardest thing for him to bear,' she said. Krystyna Semak, a 37-year-old Kyiv resident, said the explosions frightened her and she ran to the metro at 2 a.m. with her rug. Russia has been launching a record-breaking number of drones and missiles targeting Ukraine while the two countries continue to swap prisoners of war, the only tangible outcome of recent direct peace talks held in Istanbul. A ceasefire, long sought by Kyiv, remains elusive. In Kyiv, fires broke out in at least four districts after debris from shot down drones fell on the roofs of residential buildings and warehouses, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. Vasyl Pesenko, 25, stood in his kitchen, damaged in the attack. 'I was lying in bed, as always hoping that these Shaheds (drones) would fly past me, and I heard that Shahed (that hit the house),' he said. 'I thought that it would fly away, but it flew closer and closer and everything blew away.' The Russian attack sparked 19 fires across Ukraine, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram. 'Russia must answer for every crime it commits. Until there is justice, there will be no security. For Ukraine. And for the world,' he said. The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday morning reported downing 102 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The drones were downed both over regions on the border with Ukraine and deeper inside Russia, including central Moscow and Leningrad regions, according to the Defense Ministry's statement. Because of the drone attack, flights were temporarily restricted in and out of multiple airports across Russia, including all four airports in Moscow and the Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, the country's second largest city. —— AP journalist Illia Novikov contributed to this report.
