US vice-president JD Vance met Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta, where the pontiff recovers double pneumonia after his 38-day hospital stay.
Sources in the Vatican said that Easter greetings had been exchanged at the meeting, which lasted a few minutes. The meeting was a rapprochement between the Trump administration and the Vatican, after Pope Francis has repeatedly criticized the difficult immigration policies of the American administration.
VANCE VANCE VISIT
Vance, who visits Rome with his family for Easter, met on Saturday senior Vatican officials, notably Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary of Relations with States and International Organizations.
According to Vatican sources, the two parties praised the good bilateral relations between the Vatican and the United States, and reiterated a common commitment to protect the right to religious freedom and freedom of conscience.
There would also be an exchange of points of view on the international situation, in particular with regard to countries marked by war, political tensions and humanitarian crises, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners and other subjects of common interest.
On Friday, the American vice-president met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Palazzo Chigi to discuss American-Italian relations, as well as commercial negotiations with the European Union.
