ROME — Two high-profile Catholics, Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, met Monday forward of a flurry of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia’s battle in Ukraine.
Vance’s motorcade was seen getting into Vatican Metropolis simply after 7:30 a.m. Vance, a Catholic convert, had led the U.S. delegation to the formal Mass opening the hold forth of the primary American pope.
Becoming a member of Vance on the Vatican was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, additionally a Catholic, Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder mentioned.
The Vatican listed Vance’s delegation as the primary of a number of personal audiences Leo was having Monday with individuals who had come to Rome for his inaugural Mass, together with different Christian leaders and a bunch of devoted from his previous diocese in Chiclayo, Peru.
The Vatican, which was largely sidelined throughout the first three years of Russia’s battle, has provided to host any peace talks whereas persevering with humanitarian efforts to facilitate prisoner swaps and reunite Ukrainian youngsters taken by Russia.
After greeting Leo briefly on the finish of Sunday’s Mass, Vance spent the remainder of the day in separate conferences with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU Fee President Ursula von der Leyen.
Leo, the previous Cardinal Robert Prevost, is a Chicago-born Augustinian missionary who spent the majority of his ministry in Chiclayo, a industrial metropolis of round 800,000 on Peru’s northern Pacific coast.
Within the days since his Might 8 election, Leo has vowed “each effort” to assist carry peace to Ukraine. He additionally has emphasised his continuity with Pope Francis, who made caring for migrants and the poor a precedence of his hold forth.
Earlier than his election, Prevost shared information articles on X that have been important of the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations of migrants.
Vance was one of many final international officers to fulfill with Francis earlier than the Argentine pope’s April 21 loss of life. The 2 had tangled over migration, with Francis publicly rebuking the Trump administration’s deportation plan and correcting Vance’s theological justification for it.
Later Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump has deliberate separate cellphone calls with Russian chief Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr, in addition to calls to NATO leaders.
___
Related Press faith protection receives help via the AP’s collaboration with The Dialog US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely liable for this content material.
