Pope Francis appears on Easter Sunday after brief meeting with Vance

Pope Francis appeared for Easter mass and in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday morning after a brief meeting with Vice President Vance.

“Pope Francis had a brief private encounter … lasting a few minutes, in order to exchange good wishes on Easter day,” the Vatican said in a statement.

Vance, who is a Catholic, has clashed with Pope Francis over the Trump administration’s immigration policies. He met with Francis at the Vatican to exchange greetings on Easter Sunday.

“It was an honor to visit the Vatican during Holy Week, and a blessing to experience the beauty and reverence of the Good Friday liturgy at St. Peter’s Basilica,” Vance said in a post online on Saturday.

Vance’s brief meeting with Francis followed a meeting with the Vatican’s No. 2 amid tensions over immigration proceedings in the United States, The Associated Press reported.

The vice president’s office said Vance and Cardinal Pietro Parolin discussed their shared faith and Catholicism in the United States, “the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace.”

Francis has responded cautiously to the Trump administration but has sought to continue productive conversation, even as he has expressed concern about the deportation of migrants and cuts to international aid.

The Vatican’s statement said that during the meeting with Vance, there was “an exchange of opinions on the international situation” and that “hope was expressed” for collaboration between the Catholic Church and the U.S.

Francis’s meetings and public appearances were likely short due to his ongoing health issues. He’s only appeared in public a handful of times since returning to the Vatican last month.

The Pope, 88, was hospitalized in mid-February with life-threatening double pneumonia and was in the hospital for five weeks, the longest in his tenure.

He didn’t celebrate Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square but appeared on the balcony over the basilica entrance for more than 20 minutes and gave the apostolic blessing in Latin. Thousands below cheered, the AP reported.