US Vice-President J.D. Vance extended an invitation to Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States during a meeting at the Vatican on Monday ahead of a flurry of US-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Vance gave the first American pope a letter from US President Donald Trump and the first lady inviting him. The Chicago-born pope took the letter and put it on his desk and was heard saying “at some point”, in the video footage of the meeting provided by Vatican Media.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, also gave the Augustinian 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 said. Another gift was a Chicago Bears T-shirt with Leo’s name on it.
“As you can probably imagine, people in the United States are extremely excited about you,” Vance told Leo as they exchanged gifts.
Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture with the words in Italian “Peace is a fragile flower”, and a picture book of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. Leo noted that Francis had chosen not to live in them and said: “And I may live in, but it’s not totally decided.”
Vance led the US delegation to Sunday’s formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American pope. Joining him at the meeting on Monday was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, Vance spokesman Luke Schroeder said. The two then also met 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.
