Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty

Yesterday, Monday 21st of April, I shared on Facebook a speculation suggesting that the disagreements between Pope Francis and the American vice president Vance, possibly the last person the pontiff received on Easter day (see this, https://www.axios.com/2025/04/21/jd-vance-pope-last-meeting-before-death), precipitated the stroke that ended his life, the next day, in the morning. Those who want to know a few more details about this meeting, could red this: https://www.axios.com/2025/04/21/jd-vance-pope-last-meeting-before-death. In this article, the sentence that reads ‘The meeting was not announced ahead of time.’ Should be read as an indication of some precipitation around it. Such an atmosphere would be expected around a person like Vance. Couldn’t he just let the Pope rest after such a loaded day? It is obvious he could not. He probably felt entitled to. But the question remains (see this article: https://uk.style.yahoo.com/why-pope-francis-had-quick-154428644.html)

Furthermore, it seems that Vance tried hard to meet the Pope before Easter, but he was refused, and had to meet Cardinal Parolin, and other high Vatican officials instead (see: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/j-d-vance-met-pope-164814992.html).

My post has disconcerted a number of my Facebook ‘friends’, especially on the very right of the political spectre, and in some cases strong supporters of the Trump regime. Some of them severely chastised me (the younger they are, the more entitled they feel to such reactions) and most asked for proof, underlying that official statements about the meeting does not condone such speculations.

Let me begin my response with this. One has to be quite naïve or unseasoned in terms of diplomatic vocabulary to expect that Cardinal Parolin, the foreign secretary of the Vatican, who met Vance the day before Easter, would approve a statement saying in plain language that there was disagreement between them. However, the disagreement is obvious from this official statement of the Vatican (as quoted in the linked articles):

‘The Vatican’s release, however, said the pair had “an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners.”’

And,

‘There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners’, which should be interpreted in the light of the previous strong statements made by the Pope against the positions of Trump administration on these matters (see, for instance, this article from two months ago: https://www.axios.com/2025/02/11/pope-francis-trump-vance-mass-deportations-immigration. While

Finally, this whole matter should be interpreted in the light of Easter Day message of Pope Francis, read in St Peter Square, which is an obvious condemnation of Trump’s administration in most of the issues addressed by the Holy Father (read the Pope’s Easter message here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g9577g1k1o).

In conclusion, it would be foolish to expect the Vatican to be more overt about the atmosphere of the meetings between Vance and the heads of the Catholic Church. Some things, in politics (and, let’s not doubt, this IS politics) are expressed only unofficially.

Knowing this, I asked a good friend of mine, who is a Vatican insider, to tell me what he thinks about these rumours. Here is his response, quoted in full: ‘Hi Danuts. He is risen. Some cardinals were saying that Pope reprimanded Vance on migrants. But there are no details. Some are saying that Francis got upset.’ Here it is. Not much, but quite enough for me.

Now, I would like to ask those who were troubled by my sharing the speculations – and let’s be clear, they are mere ‘speculations’, not facts beyond any doubt) about Vance and Pope Francis:

Do you find them credible, plausible?

For me they are plausible rumours. For you, possibly not.

Now, let me ask you something else.

I imagine you have seen the White House meeting between Trump and Vance, with Zelensky, the leader of a country occupied by Putin, Trump’s friend. All common-sense people – I mean people who do not worship Trump – have been horrified by the nastiness and rudeness of Trump and Vance. If you were not, then I understand why the rumours about Vance’s rudeness towards the Pope are not plausible for you. AS for me, if they dared to do that to Zelensky, what would stop them to do it to Pope Francis.

Did Vance really do it? I don’t know for sure, but, man, I have no doubt he could do it without even blinking. That is what bullies like him and his psychopath master Trump are doing every day. It is their nature. May God deal justly with the irresponsibility of the Americans who brought to power these monsters. Because their decision is bringing a quasi-fascist curse, not just on America, but on the whole world.

So, may God have mercy on our world!