The Daily Populous Monday May 19th, 2025 night edition
Authored by thedailybeast.com and submitted by Aggravating_Money992

Pope Leo XIV spurned JD Vance on Sunday, offering him a quick greeting after his inaugural mass while holding extensive private meetings with other world leaders.

The first American pope shook Vance’s hand during a brief, 17-second exchange during the procession line after the mass.

Leo met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra on Sunday after celebrating his inaugural Mass, which included world leaders from Canada, Italy, Germany, and other European Union officials in the audience.

Pope Leo briefly greeted Vice President JD Vance after his inaugural mass. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty

The snub comes after the pope subtly criticized Vance and the Trump administration during his sermon, which has expelled and terrorized migrants and prompted seizing foreign land and resources, including Greenland.

“In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest,” Leo said on Sunday.

Pope Leo XIV met on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who verbally sparred with Vice President JD Vance earlier this year. Vatican Media/Vatican Pool/Corbis/Getty

The White House did not respond to an immediate request for comment on whether Vance sought a longer meeting or whether one was in the works. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were set to meet with other European leaders on Sunday, including Zelensky.

Before he became Pope Leo, Father Robert Prevost reposted multiple posts that took aim at Vance’s complicity in the Trump administration’s draconian immigration policies. He reposted a National Catholic Reporter op-ed with the title “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” and he shared other op-eds that highlighted the plight of migrants deported to El Salvador.

Vance side-stepped the criticism in an interview with Hugh Hewitt earlier this month. “I try not to play the politicization of the Pope game,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV met with President of Peru Dina Boluarte on Sunday, though not with Vice President JD Vance. Vatican Pool/Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty

Vance’s history with pontiffs while vice president has not been bright. Pope Francis criticized Vance’s defense of the immigration crackdown in a February letter to Catholic bishops, which Vance lodged on religious grounds.

“The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness,” he wrote.

Vance said in February he wouldn’t litigate “about who’s right and who’s wrong,” and he later met with Francis on April 20 at the Vatican, where the Pope received the vice president for a brief private meeting and presented him with gifts. Francis died the next day.

Still, Vance has tried to mend his ties with Catholic leadership. He visited Pope Francis’ tomb on Saturday, posting on X that he was “praying for the repose of his soul.”

“He was beloved by many Catholics around the world,” he said.

Diced_and_Confused on May 18th, 2025 at 16:47 UTC »

Smart move based on a previous Papal visit.

EvenSpoonier on May 18th, 2025 at 16:46 UTC »

People like Trump and Vance are the reason the ancient Greeks invented ostracism. The form is different today, but it's good to see it being applied properly.

DiogenesArchon on May 18th, 2025 at 16:46 UTC »

I imagine that Chicago, the third largest city in the country, is probably taking a lot of cues from the pope right now.