US Vice President, JD Vance has extended an invitation to Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States during a meeting at the Vatican.
It came ahead of a flurry of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Vance gave the Pontiff a letter from US President, Donald Trump and the first lady inviting him.
According to the Vice President’s office, Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, also gave the Pope a copy of two of St. Augustine’s most seminal works, “The City of God” and “On Christian Doctrine.”
The Vice President’s office disclosed that another gift; a Chicago Bears T-shirt with Leo’s name on it, was given to the Pope. “As you can probably imagine, people in the United States are extremely excited about you,” Vance told Leo as they exchanged gifts.
On his part, Pope Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture with the words in Italian “Peace is a fragile flower,” and a coffee-table sized picture book of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace.
Leo noted that Francis had chosen not to live in them and added, “And I may live in, but it’s not totally decided.”
Joining Vance at the meeting was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder said.
The two then also met with the Vatican Foreign Minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
“There was an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved,” according to a Vatican statement after their meeting.
Vance led the U.S. delegation to Sunday’s formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American Pope.
According to the photo of the visits released by the Vatican, Leo’s brother, Louis Prevost, a self-described “MAGA-type,” and his wife Deborah joined the delegation during the visit.
US Delegation First Of Pope’s Audiences Today
The Vatican listed Vance’s delegation as the first of several private audiences Leo was having today, Monday, May 19, 2025, with people who had come to Rome for his inaugural Mass, including other Christian leaders and a group of faithful from his old diocese in Chiclayo, Peru.
The Vatican, which was largely sidelined during the first three years of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has offered to host any peace talks while continuing humanitarian efforts to facilitate prisoner swaps and reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russia.
After greeting Leo briefly at the end of Sunday’s Mass, Vance spent the rest of the day in separate meetings, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He also met with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni, who said she hoped the trilateral meeting could be a “new beginning.”
In the days since his May 8 election, Leo has vowed “every effort” to help bring peace to Ukraine.
He also has emphasized his continuity with Pope Francis, who made caring for migrants and the poor a priority of his pontificate.
Before his election, Prevost shared news articles on X that were critical of the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations of migrants.
Vance was one of the last foreign officials to meet with Francis before the Argentine Pope’s April 21 death.
The two had tangled over migration, with Francis publicly rebuking the Trump administration’s deportation plan and correcting Vance’s theological justification for it.
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