US vice president JD Vance meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday

Pope Francis meets US vice president JD Vance (Vatican Media/AQP)

US vice president JD Vance met Pope Francis briefly on Sunday to exchange Easter greetings, after they got into a long-distance tangle over the Trump administration’s migrant deportation plans.

Mr Vance’s motorcade entered Vatican City through a side gate and parked near Francis’ hotel residence while Easter Mass was being celebrated in St Peter’s Square.

Francis, who has greatly cut back his workload to recover from a near-fatal case of pneumonia, delegated the celebration of the Mass to another cardinal.

The Vatican said they met for a few minutes at the Domus Santa Marta “to exchange Easter greetings”. Mr Vance’s office said that they met, but provided no further details.

The motorcade of US vice president JD Vance en route to the Vatican on Sunday (Kenny Holston/Pool/AP)

Mr Vance’s motorcade was on Vatican territory for 17 minutes.

Mr Vance and the pope have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy.

Just days before he was admitted to hospital in February, Francis criticised the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity.

In a letter to US bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Mr Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.

Mr Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he will continue to defend his views.

In February at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Mr Vance did not address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there are “things about the faith that I don’t know”.

Mr Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, on Saturday.

Mr Vance’s office said he and Cardinal Parolin “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace”.

The Vatican, for its part, said there was an “exchange of opinions” including over migrants and refugees and current conflicts.

The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration while seeking to continue productive relations in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.

It has expressed alarm over the administration’s crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.