The nation’s capital — Telling AWN Digital that his meeting with Pope Francis, which took place just hours before the Holy Father passed away, was a “great honor” and a “sign from God” to treasure life, Vice President JD Vance reminisced on the meeting.
On Wednesday, Vance agreed to an exclusive interview with AWN Digital.
He “didn’t plan to see the Holy Father because he was ill,” the VP said in an interview with AWN Digital, adding that he met with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday.
“But we were invited to come and visit with him before he went and did his Easter mass appearance,” he said.
“I was one of, if not the very last world leader to actually meet with the pope,” stated Vance. “I took one of my relatively junior staffers, who is a devout Catholic, and I looked back at him when he was about to meet the pope, and he was crying—it sort of drives home how important this, not just this man, but this institution is to over a billion people worldwide.”
“There are 1.5 billion practicing Catholics in the world, so that was a very big moment,” he added.
The pope and Vance had a “very gracious meeting” on Easter Sunday, according to AWN Digital.
“The pope was very kind—he was obviously very frail,” said Vance. There wasn’t much quality time between us. Mostly it was just chit-chat, but he did drop a few gifts on my kids—Easter baskets, to be exact—and we shared a tender moment.
The pope presented the Catholic vice president with a rosary, a Vatican tie, and three large chocolate Easter eggs at the meeting. The youngsters, who were not there, were Vance’s three small children.
Afterwards, the vice president and his family attended Easter Sunday Mass at Rome’s Tomb of St. Paul, where they met, before boarding a plane to India.
“I was very excited about that trip—my wife’s parents are from India and I’d never been there,” he added. “And about an hour after we landed, a staffer came over and said, ‘Sir, the pope died.’”
“I obviously felt very sad, and my thought went immediately to the pope, but also to all these Catholics who love him,” added Vance.
“But then it kind of hit me—oh my God—I was one of the last people to talk to him,” recalled Vance. “I just take it as a great honor and a sign from God to remember that you never know when your last day on this Earth is.”
