US Vice President Vance invites Pope Leo, an American, to visit home

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President JD Vance met on Monday at the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV, the first leader of the global Catholic Church from the United States, and extended an invitation for Leo to make an official visit home.

Vance, who was sharply criticised by the late Pope Francis over the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies, gave Leo a letter he said was from U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania "inviting you to come".

Leo, sitting across from Vance at his official desk in the Vatican's apostolic palace, took the letter and was heard to say "at some point", according to handout video provided by the Vatican.

The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the invitation.

A Vatican readout confirmed that Vance and Leo had met but offered no details about their discussions. A Vance spokesperson said they met one-on-one before being joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Catholic.

As part of the meeting, Vance gave Leo a navy blue and orange jersey for the Chicago Bears, a U.S. football team. It was adorned with his name, "Pope Leo", and his number, "XIV".

Leo, the Chicago-born former Cardinal Robert Prevost, is a relative unknown on the global stage, elected as the new pope on May 8. 

While a cardinal, he issued several disapproving posts about the administration's policies on his X account, reflecting his concern about migrants. The Vatican has not confirmed or denied that the posts were authentic.

The late Pope Francis, who died on April 21, was a champion of the poor and of immigrants and who frequently criticised the Trump administration. He called Trump's plan to deport millions of migrants a "disgrace" and rebuked Vance for arguing that the Bible calls on Christians to prioritise love for their families and countrymen over strangers and foreigners.

Vance met briefly with Francis on Easter Sunday, the day before the pontiff died.

TRIP NOT EXPECTED SOON

Leo is not expected to visit the U.S. soon.

His first foreign trip is likely to be to Turkey. The Vatican was preparing for Francis to travel there this summer for the 1,700th anniversary of an early Church council.

Francis, originally from Argentina, visited the U.S. in 2015, immediately after making a trip to Cuba. He visited Washington D.C., New York and Philadelphia and was the first pope to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress.

Vance and Rubio have been in Rome to lead the U.S. delegation at Leo's inaugural Mass as pope, held on Sunday among crowds of an estimated 200,000 people in St. Peter's Square.

After meeting Leo, Vance met on Monday with officials at the Vatican's Secretariat of State, the Church's top diplomatic office. A Vatican readout called those talks "cordial".

"There was an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved," it said.

(Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Peter Graff and Sharon Singleton)