Vance, Catholic in disagreement with Pope Francis, appeared in the Vatican Service
US Vice President Ji Di Vance, a Catholic who has conflict with Pope Francis over the Trump Administration Immigration Policy, participates in a Vatican religious service on Friday, which the restoration Pope is not present.
Vance, who visited Italy with his family during the Easter weekend, joined the liturgy in the Basilica « St. Peter » for Good Friday, the day on which Christians celebrate Jesus.
Pope called « shame » Trump’s plans for hunting and expulsion of immigrants
The Vice President was with his wife Usha and their three young children. Vance wore one of the children in his hands.
Francisky restricts his public appearances on the orders of doctors while recovering from double pneumonia.
The Pope has turned the care for migrants into one of the key topics of his 12-year papacy. He sharply criticizes the Trump administration plans to deport millions of migrants to the United States, calling the « shame » policy.
Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, quoted the Catholic doctrine of the medieval era to justify the repression against immigration.
Francis has denied the theological concept used by Vance to defend the repression in an unusually open letter to the US Catholic bishops. In it, Goy commented on the Trump administration in February and called the Trump Plan a « big crisis » for the United States.
Easter Without Pope: How Catholics Prepare for Holy Week
« What is built on the basis of power, not the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly, » the Pope said.
Vance is expected to have an official Vatican meeting on Saturday with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the highest-ranking church officer after the Pope. Francis is not expected to participate.
Catholic officials in the United States have also criticized the Trump Administration for foreign assistance and internal social programs.
The Conference of the Catholic Bishops of the United States has announced this month that it will terminate half -century of the federal government for the provision of services to migrants and refugees due to the cuts.
Chieco Noguchi, a spokesman for the US bishops, told Reuters that Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, was « well informed about the challenges facing the church and its institutions here » in the United States. « We pray that the meeting will lead to a positive and engaging dialogue, » she said.
Vance may also attend the celebration of Easter at the Vatican at St. Peter Square on Sunday. The Vatican has not yet said whether the Pope would attend the ceremony.