Vance and Francis have publicly disagreed in recent months on immigration policies and other aspects of church teaching, so an Easter Sunday meeting with the pope, in what proved to be the final hours of his life,

Vice President JD Vance, who has a home in East Walnut Hills, converted to Catholicism six years ago at a church in Greater Cincinnati.

Just days before he was hospitalized in February, Francis blasted the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity. In a letter to U.S. bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.