“I’ve thought a lot about it. I mean, it’s actually crazy,” Vance said. “And, obviously, when I saw him, I didn’t know he was on Earth for less than 24 hours. I think it was a big blessing.”
Vance was one of the last officials to meet with Francis. The Catholic Vice President held formal talks with the Vatican Secretary of State before an informal face-to-face meeting with Francis the next day. Francis met Vance on April 21 for less than 24 hours.
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“I know he has differences”
JD Vance recently shared his thoughts on Pope Francis’ legacy, highlighting their recent meetings and acknowledging that the pope’s lasting influence is that his lasting influence is a pastor despite some policy differences.
When Vance spoke to reporters from Agra, India, on Wednesday, he discussed the possibility of attending the Pope’s upcoming funeral and made personal thoughts on their meeting, which took place hours before the Pope’s death. “I know he has a disagreement with some of our government’s policies,” Vance said. “He also made a lot of agreements with the policies of our government. I wouldn’t dirty this man’s legacy by talking about politics. I think he was a great Christian pastor and that’s how I chose to remember the Father.”Please read also: Barron Trump communicates with his college friends without sharing his phone number
“I will always remember the thing about Pope Francis is that he was a great pastor,” Vance said. “The people on the edge, the poor, the sick, they were advocates in Pope Francis, and I think it was a true expression of Christian love.”
Vance calls himself “lucky”
Vance added that the pope “has affected a lot of life”, saying he wanted to remember “I’m lucky, I have to shake hands and tell him I pray for him every day because I did it, I did it.”
Vance and Francis’ meeting came after two men had obvious differences on immigration as the pope long condemned the Trump administration’s attitude. Vance, who turned Catholic in 2019, told reporters Wednesday that he was aware of the differences arising from some of the Pope’s policies with the Trump administration, while noting that he would not “make up the legacy of men by talking about politics.”
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Pope Francis died Monday at the age of 88, hours after Vance visited the Vatican on Easter Sunday. Their brief exchange marked one of the Pope’s final public appearances. Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019, calling the encounter a “great blessing.”
During his Pope, Francis was criticizing certain Trump administration policies, especially about immigration. In 2016, he spoke to the border wall proposed by Donald Trump, saying: “A person who only considers building walls, no matter where they are, rather than building bridges is not a Christian.”
Vance acknowledged these ideological differences in his speech at the National Catholic Breakfast earlier this year. “I’m not here to argue with him or any other clergy about who is right or wrong,” he said.
