Vance and Francis had publicly disagreed in recent months on immigration policies and other aspects of church teaching, so an Easter Sunday meeting with the pope, in what proved to be the final hours of his life,

While on a trip to Italy last week with his family, the vice president was one of the last officials to meet with Pope Francis. Vance, who is Catholic, had formal talks with the Vatican’s secretary of state and then had an informal meeting with Francis on Easter Sunday.