JD Vance’s efforts to schmooze were rebuffed by Pope Leo XIV Sunday — as the pontiff shook him off to meet with other world leaders.
The vice president was in the Vatican to witness the pope’s inaugural mass. Afterward, he tried to speak to the leader of the Catholic church, who shook his hand but barely spoke in the 17-second encounter.
But the pope did meet behind closed doors with many other world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra.
The awkward greeting with Vance followed a sermon in which subtle digs were aimed at President Donald Trump's administration. Though he didn't name Trump, the pope talked about “hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.”
It was widely considered to be a dig at Trump’s immigration policies.
The pope has been openly critical of Vance, and penned an op-ed in which he slammed the vice president for saying caring for others should come after your own family is looked after.
“JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” he wrote.