Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
“Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, met Pope Francis on April 20, the day before the latter’s death. The meeting with the enfeebled pope was brief and did not touch upon their disagreement about the treatment of immigrants. Early this year, Francis had declared that the mass deportation plan ‘damages the dignity of many men and women’ (‘JD Vance Was Among Last to Meet Pope Francis,’ Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2025). I think it is difficult not to share the late pope’s concern on this point, but the larger picture is more interesting. While the pope is known as a man of the left advocating ‘social justice,’ JD Vance supports ‘the right’ wherever he sees it. It is not immediately obvious how these two individuals can belong to the same Church. Is that an irreconcilable disagreement? ” (04/23/25)