By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President JD Vance went to the Vatican on Saturday to meet senior Catholic Church officials who have been sharply critical of his administration's policies, in the first such in-person talks of the second Trump presidency.

Vance, a Catholic who has clashed with Pope Francis over U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, and his chief deputy.

The two sides had "cordial talks" that included "an exchange of opinions on the international situation," according to a Vatican statement after the meeting.

Vance and Parolin spoke "especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners," the statement read.

Francis, who is limiting his public appearances on doctors' orders as he recovers from double pneumonia, did not take part in the meeting. Vance is visiting Italy over the Easter weekend.

The pope, Parolin and other Vatican officials have criticised several Trump administration policies, including Trump's plans to deport millions of migrants from the U.S. and his widespread cuts to foreign aid and domestic welfare programmes.

"This visit takes place in a delicate moment," said Massimo Faggioli, an Italian academic at Villanova University who has followed the papacy closely. "This relationship with the U.S. is a very high priority right now for the Vatican."

Francis has called the Trump administration's immigration crackdown a "disgrace". Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, has cited medieval-era Catholic teaching to justify the immigration crackdown.

The pope rebutted the theological concept Vance used to defend the crackdown in an unusual open letter to the U.S. Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, and called Trump's plan a "major crisis" for the U.S.

"What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly," the pope said then.

CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

Vance first visited the Vatican on Thursday to attend a religious ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica with his family.

The Catholic Church's worldwide charity arm has called the Trump administration's funding cuts to U.S. foreign aid programmes "catastrophic" in terms of its impact on the developing world.

The U.S. Catholic bishops' conference announced this month that, due to Trump administration cuts, it would end a half-century of partnerships with the federal government to provide services to migrant and refugee populations.

Chieko Noguchi, a spokesperson for the U.S. bishops, told Reuters that Parolin, the Vatican cardinal, is "well-informed of the challenges faced by the Church and her institutions here" in the U.S.

"We pray that the meeting yields positive and engaging dialogue," she said.

The Vatican statement said that, during the Vance and Parolin meeting, "hope was expressed for serene collaboration" between the U.S. church and government.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Andrew Heavens)