JD Vance, at the Vatican in Good Friday

US Vice -President JD Vance participated in the Great Friday service dedicated to the Passions of the Lord, in Saint Peter’s Basil. Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti presided over the religious service, delegated by Pope Francis, in convalescence, reports ANSA.

Vance and his wife Usha are practicing Catholics. In the Great Friday the Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus.

The US Vice -President was seen entering the event with his wife Usha and their three children. Vance wore one of the children in his arms, reports Reuters.

Pope Francis limits his public appearances to the Order of Doctors, while recovering after a double pneumonia.

The Pope took care of the migrants one of the key themes of his 12-year-old papacy. He harshly criticized the plans of the Trump administration to deport millions of migrants from the US, calling this policy a ‘shame’, reports Reuters.

Vance, who became a Catholic in 2019, quoted the Catholic teaching of the medieval era to justify the repression against immigration.

Francis fought the theological concept used by Vance to defend the repression, in an unusual open letter to the American Catholic bishops on the Trump administration, calling Trump’s plan a ‘major crisis’ for the US.

« What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of each human being, starts bad and will end badly, » Pope said.

Vance is going to have an official meeting at the Vatican with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the highest official of the church after the Pope on Saturday. Francisc is not expected to participate.

Vance could also participate in the celebration of Easter in the Vatican on Sunday, in Saint Peter Square. The Vatican has not yet said if the Pope participated in the ceremony.