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Hours before he shuffled off this mortal coil, Pope Francis not-so-subtly criticized Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump’s treatment of immigrants and the vulnerable.
Francis briefly met with Vance at the Vatican on Easter Sunday, where the two exchanged quick pleasantries. But after the meeting, Francis—who was frail after battling double pneumonia—had an archbishop read his Easter message, which took clear potshots at how Vance and Trump are demonizing immigrants.
“How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants,” the Pope wrote in the message that was delivered to tens of thousands of people gathered at the Vatican for Easter.
“On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!” the pope continued.
“I appeal to all those in positions of political responsibility in our world not to yield to the logic of fear which only leads to isolation from others,” he added, “but rather to use the resources available to help the needy, to fight hunger and to encourage initiatives that promote development. These are the ‘weapons’ of peace: weapons that build the future, instead of sowing seeds of death.”
Meanwhile, one day prior, Francis set Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, to meet with Vance. The Vatican said there was an “exchange of opinions” about the Trump administration’s treatment of migrants and refugees.
In layman’s terms, the pope’s emissaries dressed Vance down.
Francis has criticized the Trump administration over its immigration policies before, including in a February letter in which Francis specifically criticized Vance, who is a Catholic convert.
Vance had invoked the Christian concept of “ordo amoris” to justify the isolationism, saying in a Fox News interview in January: “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that.”
But Francis said Vance had perverted that concept.
“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” Francis wrote in a letter to American bishops. “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted [is] love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
Ultimately, the fact that Vance met with Francis a few hours before Francis died is yet another bizarre and embarrassing event in Vance’s vice presidency.
Last week, Vance dropped the trophy the Ohio State University football team brought to the White House for a celebration of the team’s national championship victory.
And who can forget how awkwardly he ordered donuts on the campaign trail.
Ultimately, meeting the pope hours before his death has sparked a barrage of hilarious memes, which made fun of the fact that Vance is so smarmy that his presence led the Pope to want to die.
“Pope Francis held on that little bit longer just so we could all point and call JD Vance the Pope Killing Anti-Christ. Best Pope in my lifetime, RIP,” one X user said.
“I don’t think JD Vance killed the Pope, I think meeting JD Vance probably drained the Pope’s will to live. It’s subtly different,” another X user wrote.
Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
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