JD Vance, Marco Rubio to attend Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass at the Vatican

Vice President JD Vance speaks at a film-screening event April 1, 2025, at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Erin Granzow/Courtesy of the Heritage Foundation

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 15, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA).

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both of whom are Catholic, will attend the inaugural Mass for Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, on Saturday, May 18.

The Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Rome time and will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Square to mark the beginning of Leo’s pontificate.

Vance, a convert to the faith, congratulated the Holy Father on his elevation to the papacy in a post on X following the new pope’s election, saying “millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church.”

Shortly after his papacy was announced, prior posts on X from Leo that criticized Trump and Vance over the administration’s deportation and migration policies resurfaced on an account that has since been deleted.

In a May 9 interview with Hugh Hewitt, Vance addressed that issue, saying he tries not to “play the politicization of the pope game,” adding: “I’m sure he’s going to say a lot of things that I love [and] I’m sure he’ll say some things that I disagree with, but I’ll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all, and that’ll be the way that I handle it.”

“The Church is about saving souls and about spreading the Gospel,” he added. “And yeah, it’s going to touch public policy from time to time as all human institutions do, but that’s not really what it’s about. And I think it’s much healthier for the American media, and certainly for Catholics, to not take such a, you know, politics in the age of social media attitude towards the papacy.”

Rubio also addressed the subject during a news conference on Thursday, making similar comments, saying: “I don’t view the papacy as a political office” and “I view it as a spiritual one.”

“The Church has strong social doctrine teachings, and I think there is not incompatibility,” Rubio said.

“We, too, are compassionate towards migrants,” he continued. “I would argue there’s nothing compassionate about mass migration. There’s nothing compassionate about open borders that allows people to be trafficked here. [It’s not compassionate] to the American people [either], … flooding our country with individuals that are criminals and prey on our communities.” 

Vance was last at the Vatican on April 20 and met Pope Francis the day prior to the pontiff’s death. During the meeting, the two exchanged Easter greetings and the pope gave Vance gifts for himself, his children, and his wife.

President Donald Trump was last at the Vatican for Francis’ April 26 funeral. In 2013, when Pope Francis was elevated to the papacy, the United States delegation to his inaugural Mass was also led by the vice president at the time, former president Joe Biden, who is also Catholic.