Vatican notes 'exchange of opinions' over migrants, prisoners in meeting with Vance

VATICAN CITY (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance met Saturday with the Vatican's No. 2 official amid tensions over the U.S. crackdown on migrants, with the Holy See reaffirming good relations but noting “an exchange of opinions” over current international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.

Vance, a Catholic convert, met with the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, in the Apostolic Palace. There was no indication he met with Pope Francis, who has sharply cut back official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.

Vance's office said he and Parolin “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace.”

The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration while seeking to continue productive relations in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality.

It has expressed alarm over the administration's crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Those concerns were reflected in the Vatican statement, which said the talks were cordial and that the Vatican expressed satisfaction with the administration's commitment to protecting freedom of religion and conscience.

"There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners," the statement said. “Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”

The reference to “serene collaboration” appeared to refer to Vance's assertion that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was resettling “illegal immigrants” in order to get federal funding. Top U.S. cardinals have pushed back strongly against the claim.

“It is clear that the approach of the current U.S. administration is very different from what we are used to and, especially in the West, from what we have relied on for many years," Parolin told La Repubblica daily on the eve of Vance's visit.

As the U.S. pushes to end the war in Ukraine, Parolin reaffirmed Kyiv's right to its territorial integrity and insisted that any peace deal must not be “imposed” on Ukraine but “is built patiently, day by day, with dialogue and mutual respect.”

Vance was spending Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended Good Friday services in St. Peter’s Basilica after meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. On Saturday, after introducing his family to Parolin, the Vances got a private tour of the Sistine Chapel and later visited Rome's botanic garden, where one of his sons was seen in a plastic gladiator costume that is popular among Italian kids.

It wasn't immediately clear where they would celebrate Easter. Francis, for his part, indicated he hoped to attend Easter Mass that usually draws thousands to St. Peter's Square, according to the official Mass booklet and liturgical plans released Saturday.

Francis and Vance have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy and his progressive views on social justice issues have often put him at odds with members of the more conservative U.S. Catholic Church.

Francis also changed church teaching to say that capital punishment is inadmissible in all cases. After a public appeal from Francis just weeks before Trump took office, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row. Trump is an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, identifies with a small Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that is often called “postliberal.”

Postliberals share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. They envision a counterrevolution in which they take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting upon their vision of the “common good.”

Just days before he was hospitalized in February, Francis blasted the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity. In a letter to U.S. bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.

Vance had defended the administration’s America-first crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as “ordo amoris.” He has said the concept delineates a hierarchy of care — to family first, followed by neighbor, community, fellow citizens and lastly those elsewhere.

In his Feb. 10 letter, Francis appeared to correct Vance’s understanding of the concept.

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups,” he wrote. “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he would continue to defend his views. During a Feb. 28 appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Vance didn’t address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there are “things about the faith that I don’t know.”

While he had criticized Francis on social media in the past, Vance recently has posted prayers for Francis’ recovery.

This version corrects the first name of Gallagher.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

US Vice President J.D. Vance leaves Rome's Botanic Gardens with his wife Usha, right, their daughter Mirabel holding hand with an unidentified staff, front, and sons Vivek and Ewan, back to camera, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

US Vice President J.D. Vance leaves Rome's Botanic Gardens with his wife Usha, center, and their daughter Mirabel, back to camera, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

US Vice President J.D. Vance leaves Rome's Botanic Gardens with his wife Usha, right, and their daughter Mirabel, back to camera, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

Security personnel accompanying U.S. Vice President JD Vance lift a trolley over the turnstiles at the exit of Rome's Botanic Gardens after a tour inside the gardens Vance did with his wife Usha, partially hidden behind the gate, their daughter Mirabel, sons Vivek, left, and Ewan, back to camera, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

US Vice President J.D. Vance arrives with son Ewan wearing a gladiator toy set at Rome's Botanic Gardens, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

US Vice President J.D. Vance leaves Rome's Botanic Gardens with his wife Usha, left, and their daughter Mirabel, back to camera, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

US Vice President J.D. Vance leaves Rome's Botanic Gardens with his wife Usha, right, their daughter Mirabel, left, and sons Vivek and Ewan, back to camera, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

US Vice President J.D. Vance arrives at Rome's Botanic Gardens, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

US Vice President J.D. Vance, center, leaves Rome's Botanic Gardens with his wife Usha, right, their daughter Mirabel holding hands with an unidentified staff member, front, and sons Vivek and Ewan, back to camera, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

The motorcade of U.S. Vice President JD Vance departs the Vatican after Vance met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

From left, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin meets with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, his daughter Mirabel, his wife Usha, and their sons Ewan and Vivek at the Vatican, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)

People look on as the motorcade of U.S. Vice President JD Vance passes by en route to Vatican where Vance will meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, in Rome, Italy, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

The motorcade of U.S. Vice President JD Vance departs his Vice-Presidential quarters en route to Vatican, in Rome, Italy, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, center, with their daughter Mirabel attend a Good Friday service inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel attend a Good Friday service led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, right, inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance attends with his wife Usha, left, a Good Friday service inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, with, from left, daughter Mirabel, sons Ewan and Vivek leave at the end of a Good Friday service inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance attends with his wife Usha and son Vivek, left, a Good Friday service inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel, partially hidden, and son Vivek attend a Good Friday service led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, right, inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel, back to camera, and son Vivek attend a Good Friday service inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, with their daughter Mirabel, back to camera, and sons Vivek and Ewan, left, attend a Good Friday service inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, with their daughter Mirabel, back to camera, and sons Vivek and Ewan, left, attend a Good Friday service inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel, attend a Good Friday service led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, right, inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.

Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.

A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)