Pope Francis meets J.D. Vance on Easter, makes appeal for release of hostages

An ailing Pope Francis, still recovering from a lung infection, met Sunday with Vice President J.D. Vance at the Vatican and made an Easter appeal for the release of hostages in the Hamas-Israel war.

 “I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!” Francis said in a prepared Easter message.

Hospitalized for more than a month with pneumonia, the 88-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff made several surprise appearances on Easter, including waving to adoring crowds from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

While he did not preside over the traditional Easter mass, he did deliver the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the “City [of Rome] and to the World,” a special declaration of reconciliation that only a pope may deliver. 

Perhaps his highest profile moment came when he met privately with Vance, a 2019 convert to Catholicism who has tangled with the pope over U.S. enforcement of immigration laws.

“The meeting, which lasted a few minutes, provided an opportunity to exchange Easter greetings,” the Vatican said in a statement.