J.D. Vance went to the Vatican yesterday. He expected to meet the Pope. Get blessed, perhaps even complimented a bit. Things didn’t work out that way. I’m certain J.D. was sooooo full of himself, all puffed-up as he entered the Vatican yesterday. I’m equally certain he left deflated like a popped balloon. Or to be as gross as Vance and others in the Trump administration (including Trump) like a nasty, wrinkled used condom tossed out of a car window after a backseat tryst! Ye, Pope Francis not only wouldn’t make time for the sitting U.S. Vice President, he had one of his people give Vance a “talking to” as in ‘Don’t go touting your Catholicism while spending your efforts blowing off the teachings of Christ and the guidance of this Pope who’d dedicated to reminding us all what Christ actually preached.’
I highly enjoyed reading this article from The Daily Beast about J.D. Vance’s Vatican Visit. Vance might have had freakish notions about after kissing the Pope’s ring the Pope kissing a replica of a Trump ring. At the very least he hoped to leave with a joint statement that didn’t criticize Trump and U.S. policy. Vance really should have known better because going back to February the Pope was calling him, and Trump too out:
The pontiff has also specifically confronted Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in the U.S. government, having converted in 2019.
Without mentioning the VP by name, the Pope corrected a Catholic concept Vance had invoked to defend the administration’s deportations, ordo amoris (order of love). In a February letter, Francis pointedly explained, “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups.”
Add that to the rebuke he’d gotten from the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops in January (who called Vance comments about the Catholic Church on immigration “scurrilous,” “nasty,” and “not true.”) Vance (and Trump, and Rubio) were flat-out stupid to assume the Pope would grant an audience and pose for some “See? Things are hunky-dory between us” pictures. Nope, the Pope snubbed him. Worse, as I mentioned he sent Cardinal Pietro Parolin to remind Vance of a few things when it came to Christianity and Catholic teaching on helping the poor and yes, immigrants regardless of their paperwork. After all, the Pope himself has, many times criticized Trump’s mass deportation crap, characterizing it with terms like it being a “disgrace” and a “grave sin.”
It should surprise no one that the post meeting statement was indeed bland. It spoke of exchanging thoughts on international problems, in particular countries affected by war, political tensions (I can’t help but wonder if a pointed “You’ve got plenty to clean up in your own country J.D. from the good Cardinal got worked in) and humanitarian issues. The statement included the phrase ‘with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners.’ That political whack upside Trump’s head will leave a mark.
I for one don’t see things improving between the Pope (and Vatican/Catholic Church) anytime soon, if ever. Hell, everywhere Trump sees a bridge to something constructive he has it blown up! I think it’s even money whether there will be a U.N. General Assembly in New York in September. Or if Trump would show up. Part of him would crave that particular spotlight so maybe. I also recall an embarrassing moment he had in 2018. You know the one, where he tried a toned down version of a stock line from one of his MAGA rallies and the world’s leaders before him LITERALLY laughed in his face.
At least they only laughed. Trump has devolved a LOT since then. If he spouted his lies about how great he was, and all the “great things” he’d done and America being the leader of the world the reaction would be rather more harsh. I have weird fantasies – not sexual ones I should add. But now I’ve got a new one. Vatican City is the world’s smallest country BUT it is recognized as a country by the U.N. and granted full diplomatic privileges both by that body and by governments including our own around the world. That makes the Pope not only the head of the Catholic Church but also a Head of State who could be afforded an opportunit to address the General Assembly himself.
Imagine this fall him being given the slot right AFTER Trump. And after Trump lies and b.s. doing a Joe Pesci impression from My Cousin Vinny:
Yeah, it’s a weird fantasy but tell me you wouldn’t love to see it happen. In the meantime we can enjoy thinking about J.D. Vance dragging his freshly spanked butt out of the Vatican!
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Maybe the pope should look in the mirror since he equated Kamala with Trump BEFORE the election by saying choose the lesser evil. You sir are a beauracrat and a hypocrite. Now you sound like the magas with buyer’s remorse. Too phucking little too phucking late. You helped the devil into the white house.
Vance calls pro-choice women “cafeteria Catholics” if they. want to.keep abortion legal. and use birth control. So is he.He’s Catholic when it costs him.nothing politically or monetarily. The difference is that the cafeteria he frequents of three-day-old sauerkraut and the head cook is little guy who never shuts up and who has a funky little moustache.
He could have handled this much better by putting out a ridiculously neutral.statement to the effect that the Pope speaks to Catholics, but not a.ll Americans are Catholics,,and foreign and domestic policy must reflect American values, not Vatican teachings.
I love how pompous you are in the article about Pope Francis refusing to sit down with Vance. And then there are pictures released that he did sit down with Vance.
No retraction yet? I’m not suprised
The reporting I saw prior to writing this article said Pope Francis did NOT meet with Vance. I never saw an article or news clip/punditry afterwards to the contrary. Perhaps you’d be so kind as to share where you saw photos of the two of them together on Saturday? That detail is missing. Or one of the actual photos you cite. If at least one can be authenticated as being from last Sat. I will issue a retraction.
Here’s the thing. We are talking about a Trump guy, and Trump people (whether they work in his administrations or from right wing outlets) have in the past put out photos of something captioned as having been taken as one given place or time (or both) and it turned out they were lying. That’s why I ask you for specific citations – where did you see these photos and what do the captions say?
To be fair, given the news today that Francis has died it’s possible he was in such bad shape as to not be up to seeing visitors, much less posing for pictures. However given that Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 and supposedly pledged to follow the moral teachings of whomever is Pope the talking to he got from the second in command was at Francis’ direction. And it was consistent with past (including recent) statements made from the now deceased Pontiff. Being not just the head of the church/religion Vance subscribes to, but an actual Head of State (as I mentioned the Vatican is an actual COUNTRY as far as the U.N. is concerned with full diplomatic privileges and has priests and others in postings around the world that enjoy the same privileges as say U.S. SecState Marco Rubio gets) I for one don’t think Pope Francis would have been afraid to dress down a mere Vice President. As he had his second in command do!
So I will wait to see if you respond with specific news clips or articles with the photos you claim prove I was wrong. IF they can be proven accurate, as in being taken in the time, place and location you claim I will then openly admit the reporting I discussed was wrong, and that Vance did indeed have the sit-down he thought he was going to have.
Some clarity to what your wrote: The Pope did NOT take part in the official visit Vance had on his schedule Saturday and instead Vance did in fact meet only with his second in command Cardinal Parolin and the Vatican’s Foreign Minister Archbishop Gallagher. The next day, Easter Sunday the Pope was receiving visitors (seated in a wheelchair) and Vance was able to sit down for a minute with him then. It was a short encounter, one of exchanging pleasantries and gifts and that was it. That’s likely where the pictures you refer to come from. Not the official visit to address diplomacy and issues scheduled for Saturday. Vance probably got word that the Pope was having brief Easter Visits with various officials and Vance wormed (slimed) his way into the queue. A confrontation between his Secret Service detail and the Swiss Guard (don’t let those ridiculous costumes you see on gate/entrance guards fool you – the Swiss Guard is the real deal and among the world’s best and toughest soldiers) wasn’t something that should take place on Easter Sunday of all days. Anyway here’s a link to the brief encounter: https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-franciss-death-mic-drop-235856147.html
J.D. gave the old college try, but the Pope certainly didn’t seem to make any effort to be the warm, caring person he was known to be. I don’t see him show even a hint of a smile, much less engaging in any conversation. An aide gave Vance the obligatory official gifts they’d pulled from the Vatican shoppe!
Of course, if you read the linked article plenty are making the sick joke that after surviving a major illness the Pope couldn’t take having to spend even a minute or so in Vance’s presence. Gave up the will to live was one theme. Being covered in Trumpian stench was another. I’d imagine someone with this Pope’s reputation for love and caring was conflicted having to put up with someone like Vance who goes against everything the Pope (and Jesus himself) taught. On Easter no less.
It’s tasteless but people will forever speculate whether having to deal, if only so briefly with Vance led to the stroke the Pontiff had hours later which given his already poor health led to the heart failure that killed him. I can relate to what the Pope might have been feeling. The raw, burning HATRED I have for Trump, Vance and all the conservative enablers (regardless of their reason) is what fuels me. I know over time it will take years off my life. However, for me, for now it is what keeps me going each day. I’m not going to give Trump or his MAGA minions including you the fucking satisfaction of giving up, even as this administration has CUT OFF the counseling I was scheduled to start getting from the VA to help me through another bout of quite severe depression. You all want me to just die or kill myself. My hatred is what keeps that from happening and will continue to do so. However I know it has a bad physical effect on me, and who knows? Maybe the Pope really was in such bad health that he didn’t want to directly deal with Vance because of his contempt, the fight within to be forgiving and while he managed to avoid having to have it come to a head in a direct diplomatic encounter being ambushed made his spirit say “fuckit.” We’ll never know of course. But if social media is any indication and awful lot of people are thinking just that. Including ME.
Vance got his precious photo op which was all he wanted. He didn’t and doesn’t nor will he ever care about, much less follow what Pope Francis taught in word and deed. If it were learned Francis told his people how upsetting it was to have to see Vance even for a minute or so, and that having the “visit” forced on him and the feelings it brought forth hurt his soul and maybe it was indeed time to “give in and go to be with God” Vance would wear out his arm patting himself on the back for killling a Pope!
It’s April 22nd now, and the Pope has gone to his reward. What do you want to bet that if the timeline were the same but the VP were a democrat, conspiracy theories of that VP having murdered the Pope would be running rampant on the internet?