Pope Leo XIV meets U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Vatican
發佈日期: 2025-05-20 11:07
TVB News
Pope Leo XIV has met U.S. Vice President JD Vance in the Vatican.
Vance gave the first American pope a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and the first lady inviting him to visit the United States.
The Chicago-born pope took the letter and put it on his desk and was heard saying "at some point," in the video footage of the meeting provided by Vatican Media.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, also gave the Augustinian pope a copy of two of St. Augustine's most seminal works, "The City of God" and "On Christian Doctrine," the vice president's office said. Another gift: A Chicago Bears T-shirt with Leo's name on it.
"As you can probably imagine, people in the United States are extremely excited about you," Vance told Leo as they exchanged gifts.
Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture with the words in Italian "Peace is a fragile flower," and a coffee-table sized picture book of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. Leo noted that Pope Francis had chosen not to live in them and added, "and I may live in, but it's not totally decided."
Vance led the U.S. delegation to Sunday's formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American pope. "There was an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved," according to a Vatican statement after their meeting.
