Pope Francis's Final Public Act Was Rebuking Vance's "Contempt" for Migrants — Then He Died
Vance met Pope Francis on Easter Sunday. Hours later, the Pope delivered his final public address denouncing "contempt towards the vulnerable and migrants." The Pope died the next morning. His last public message was a rebuke of the man he'd just met.
On Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, Vice President JD Vance met briefly with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The 88-year-old Pope thanked Vance through a translator and gave him three chocolate Easter eggs (one per child), a Vatican tie, and rosaries.
Hours later, Pope Francis delivered his Easter Urbi et Orbi message — his final public address. It included what was widely interpreted as a direct rebuke of Vance and Trump:
"How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants."
He appealed to political leaders "not to yield to the logic of fear which only leads to isolation from others."
Pope Francis died the following morning, Easter Monday, April 21, 2025. Vance's brief meeting was one of the Pope's last encounters. His final public message — delivered after meeting the Vice President of the country conducting mass deportations, family separations, and CECOT transfers — was a condemnation of contempt for migrants.
Vance later called it "pretty crazy" that he met the Pope in "his last 24 hours." The Daily Beast headline captured the moment: "Pope Francis' Last Act Was to Give JD Vance a Lesson About Migrants."
The head of Vance's own church — the faith he had converted to just six years earlier — used his final breath to condemn the policies Vance champions.