JD Vance leads tributes to late Pope Francis one day after Vatican visit

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Apr 21, 2025

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Vice President JD Vance on Monday led an American chorus of tributes to the late Pope Francis after being one of the last people to meet with the ailing pontiff before his death.

Vance, an adult convert to Roman Catholicism, said he was gratified to have the chance to become the last world leader to meet with Francis in his final hours.

“My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” Vance tweeted. “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill.”

“May God rest his soul,” Vance added.

Vance, who joined the Catholic church in 2019, met with a wheelchair-bound Francis for a few minutes on Easter Sunday, his last day alive. Francis had previously sparred with the conservative Republican over his harsh anti-immigrant stances.

President Donald Trump and former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama also mourned the loss of the spiritual leader of the world’s more than 1 billion Catholics.

“May God Bless him and all who loved him,” Trump wrote in a 14-word post on his social media site.

Trump ordered flags flown at half mast at all federal buildings to honor Francis.

“He was a good man,” Trump said at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. “He worked hard. He loved the world.”

Biden, the second Catholic president after former President John F. Kennedy, paid a heartfelt tribute to Francis.

He praised the late pontiff as a groundbreaking peacemaker who tirelessly fought poverty and preached against the impact of climate change.

“Above all, he was a Pope for everyone,” Biden tweeted with a photo of his meeting with Francis. “He was the People’s Pope — a light of faith, hope, and love.”

Obama focused on Francis’ humility and his trademark desire to avoid unnecessary trappings of wealth and to serve the poor.

“He shook us out of our complacency and reminded us that we are all bound by moral obligations to God and one another,” Obama tweeted.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, described Francis as “a beacon of light and hope against the darkness.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries noted that Francis was the first member of the Jesuit order and the first Latino to serve as pope after centuries of European church leaders.

“His moral, visionary and groundbreaking legacy will live on,” Jeffries, D-New York, said in a statement.