U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his family attended the Vatican’s Liturgy for the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday during the first day of an April 18–20 visit to Rome.
On his trip, Vance — who is a convert to Catholicism — will also be visiting cultural and religious sites and meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state. He met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday after landing in Rome.
“Vice President Vance looks forward to meeting with Prime Minister Meloni and Church officials while in Italy and is grateful for the opportunity to visit some of Rome’s amazing cultural and religious sites with his family during Holy Week,” the vice president’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, told CNA earlier on Friday.
There is no formal meeting scheduled between the vice president and Pope Francis, who, despite still recovering from double pneumonia, has resumed some informal public appearances — including a short visit to Rome’s Regina Coeli prison on Holy Thursday.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who left the hospital on March 23 after 38 days, also had a brief private encounter with King Charles III and Queen Camilla during their state visit to Italy on April 9.
Vance posted on X shortly before the liturgy on Friday that he “had a great meeting” with Meloni and was “headed to church soon with my family in this beautiful city.”
“I’m grateful every day for this job, but particularly today where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday,” he wrote. “I wish all Christians all over the world, but particularly those back home in the U.S., a blessed Good Friday.”
The Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 18 was celebrated by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, who was delegated to lead the service in the pope’s place. Following Vatican custom, the preacher of the papal household, Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, delivered the homily.
Preaching on the “intelligence of the Cross,” Pasolini pointed out that “in a time when artificial and predictive intelligence dominates our thinking, the Cross offers a radically different form of wisdom—one that doesn’t calculate or compete but simply loves and gives.
“This intelligence is not artificial but deeply personal and open to God. In a world shaped by algorithms, the Cross restores authentic freedom—the freedom to love, even when it costs everything.”
In letting himself be nailed to a cross, Christ’s sacrifice was “not a passive surrender, but an act of supreme freedom, accepting weakness as the place where love can become full,” Pasolini said.
"It is not autonomy or great feats that give meaning to life, but the ability to transform limitations into an opportunity for giving. With this gesture, Jesus reveals to us that it is not strength that saves the world, but the weakness of love that holds nothing back and surrenders itself," he said.
The vice president’s trip comes as the Vatican and President Donald Trump’s administration have traded back-and-forths over plans to deport large numbers of immigrants who entered the country illegally.
The administration has received praise from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for its efforts to curtail gender ideology and government mandates that jeopardize religious freedom. However, the bishops have also sued the administration over its decision to cut funding for nongovernmental organizations that provide services to migrants, which has affected numerous Catholic organizations.
Vance’s meeting with Meloni comes as the Trump administration continues to negotiate trade policies and tariffs with countries around the world, including countries in the European Union. Meloni also met Trump at the White House on April 17.
Angelus Staff also contributed to this report.
