If I Knew I Had Only Hours to Live I Would Not Want to Spend Them with JD Vance

 

When I awoke to the news that Pope Francis had passed away this morning, I could not help but think that he had briefly spent the previous day visiting with Vice-President JD Vance.

Of course, the pontiff had been gravely ill for months and was hardly in any condition to meet with Vance, much less anyone else. One can only wonder how much pressure the Trump White House put upon the Holy See for Vance to have an audience with Pope Francis. Evidently Vance meeting the Pope's second-in-command Cardinal Pietro Parolin just wasn't good enough. 

Back in February, Pope Francis made a point of rebuking Vance after the Vice-President stated his interpretation of the Catholic doctrine ordo amoris. Vance argued that love was prioritized from family to neighbors to community to citizens and then rest of the world. Pope Francis countered that it is a love open to all without exception. By his own admission, Vance is "a baby Catholic" and "things about the faith I don't know". But this hasn't stopped him from using his position to make theological declarations and we can look forward to more encyclicals from the Vice-President over the next four years.

Although the meeting between Pope Francis and Vance was brief, conciliatory and cordial, it was also completely unnecessary. It certainly was not good for the Pope's health. While the Pope might have only had days to live, those days could have been spent in peace without JD Vance sullying his presence. Had he not met with Vance perhaps he would have enjoyed a few more days before meeting a peaceful end.

Granted, I am not the leader of one of the world's largest religious groups much less a person of considerable moral, spiritual and political influence. As such there are certain obligations which must be met and not of all those obligations are pleasant. Nevertheless, if I knew I only had a few hours left to live, I would not want to spend a minute of those hours with JD Vance. 

Indeed, there are a great many people who I would not wish to be surrounded by if my life were to draw to a sudden close. But JD Vance would be very close to the top of that list. R.I.P.