The Vatican and White House have had a close relationship for decades, with various popes and presidents meeting in nations’ capital and Vatican City over the years.
Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday at the age of 88 after battling health issues, including chronic lung disease. Francis led the Roman Catholic Church from 2013 until his death and had encounters with three U.S. presidents during his tenure.
Francis’ last significant meeting with a U.S. leader took place just before his death when Vice President JD Vance visited Italy for Easter and met with the pope.
“I know you’ve not been feeling great, but it’s good to see you in better health,” Vance told the pope on Sunday.
“I pray for you every day,” Vance said. “God bless you.”
After Francis’ passing, a retrospective on high-profile meetings and relationships between the Vatican and White House was done by Fox News Digital.
Reagan and Pope John Paul II against communism
During the Cold War in 1982, President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met at the Vatican.
PHOTO GALLERY: POPE FRANCIS THROUGH THE YEARS
Pope John Paul II greets President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, on their visit to the Vatican. (Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
The meeting marked the first time a president and pope met alone behind closed doors, a 1982 article detailing the visit reported. It came approximately a year after both survived assassination attempts, marking the start of their close friendship as they worked to combat communism globally.
Two years later, they met again in Fairbanks, Alaska, delivering messages of peace during escalating tensions between the Eastern Bloc and Western Block.
“In a violent world, Your Holiness, you have been a minister of peace and love. Your words, your prayers, your example have made you – for those who suffer oppression or the violence of war – a source of solace, inspiration, and hope,” Reagan said. “For this historic ministry the American people are grateful to you, and we wish you every encouragement in your journeys for peace and understanding in the world.”
Their friendship was based on a shared aversion to communism, socialism, and atheism prevalent in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The pope and the Reagan administration collaborated to back the Solidarity labor movement in Poland, encouraging citizens to resist communism in the USSR’s satellite state, as per the Associated Press.
President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II meet, along with U.S. and Vatican officials, at Fairbanks International Airport on May 2, 1984, in Alaska. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
The Vatican denied an official alliance with the U.S. during Solidarity’s promotion but acknowledged that Pope John Paul II and Reagan shared a goal to combat totalitarianism.
REAGAN, JOHN PAUL II UNITED IN PURPOSE
In 1989, Poland held semi-free elections, leading to a triumph for the Solidarity movement and the collapse of the communist government. This event influenced other nations, marking the beginning of communism’s downfall, including the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
President Ronald Reagan sits with Pope John Paul II in Vizcaya Mansion. (Diana Walker/Getty Images)
“Pope John Paul II and President Reagan cooperated to end Soviet communism,” wrote former Republican Gov. Scott Walker in a 2020 Washington Times op-ed on Reagan and Pope John Paul II. “The duo had a divine plan to combat the Soviet empire in its war on religion and individual liberties. Their collaboration led to the collapse of communism, providing people worldwide with more freedom and opportunities.”
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president, and Pope Benedict XV met in 1919. (Getty Images)
Wilson’s historic meeting with the pope
In 1919, Democrat Woodrow Wilson became the first U.S. president to meet with a pope, paving the way for establishing communication between Washington and Vatican City.
Wilson, touring Europe post-World War I, “visited his Holiness Pope Benedict XV,” according to an America article that year.
VANCE WAS ONE OF POPE FRANCIS’ LAST VISITORS
“The President’s arrival was announced by the Master of the Chamber to the Pope …, who awaited Mr. Wilson in the Throne Room,” the article stated. “The President was immediately admitted to the presence of the Holy Father, who welcomed him warmly. They spent about half an hour together without information on the topics discussed.”
The meeting, during intensified anti-Catholic sentiment from the surge of Catholic immigrants in the early 20th century, set the foundation for presidents engaging with the Vatican, albeit normalized much later.
