U.S. presidents mourned the death of Pope Francis, who served as the leader of the Catholic Church for 12 years, on Monday following the Vatican’s announcement of the pope’s passing.
‘Rest in Peace Pope Francis!’ President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday. ‘May God Bless him and all who loved him!’
The College of Cardinals elected Pope Francis, 88, to serve as the pope following Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. His election marked the first time a non-European served as pope in more than 1,000 years. Pope Francis, born with the name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, originally hailed from Argentina.
Pope Francis, who was hospitalized in February due to complications stemming from bronchitis and pneumonia, died Monday at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.
Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with Pope Francis on Sunday in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel just hours before the pope’s death. Vance acknowledged the visit in a post on X Monday while expressing his condolences to Christians who loved the pope, and shared a link to the transcript of one of the pope’s 2020 homilies.
‘My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill,’ Vance said in a post on X on Monday. ‘But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul.’
Trump also signed an executive order Monday ordering all U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels to remember Francis. The order also applies to all U.S. embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
Here’s a look at Pope Francis’ legacy with other U.S. leaders:
Barack Obama
Pope Francis met with former President Barack Obama at the Vatican in March 2014. The two met again in September of the following year during Pope Francis’ visit to the White House, where the pope delivered a statement urging action on climate change. Following his visit to the White House, Francis also visited New York City and Philadelphia.
Obama issued a statement Monday morning lauding the pope for his leadership.
‘In his humility and his gestures at once simple and profound – embracing the sick, ministering to the homeless, washing the feet of young prisoners – he shook us out of our complacency and reminded us that we are all bound by moral obligations to God and one another,’ Obama said in a post on X Monday morning.
‘Today, Michelle and I mourn with everyone around the world – Catholic and non-Catholic alike – who drew strength and inspiration from the Pope’s example,’ Obama said. ‘May we continue to heed his call to ‘never remain on the sidelines of this march of living hope.’’
Donald Trump
Trump met with Pope Francis in 2017 during a trip to the Vatican, and told reporters later that they had a ‘fantastic meeting.’ However, the two remained at odds with one another over Trump’s border policies for the last decade.
‘A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,’ Pope Francis said in February 2016 amid Trump’s push on the campaign trail to build a border wall and crack down on illegal immigration.
In response, Trump said: ‘For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.’
Pope Francis routinely issued similar statements, and in February penned a letter to U.S. Catholic bishops and voiced concern about the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans.
‘The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness,’ Pope Francis said in the letter.
Joe Biden
Former President Joe Biden, the second Catholic U.S. president, visited the Vatican in October 2021, where he and Pope Francis met to discuss topics including climate change and advocacy for the poor, according to a readout of the meeting.
Biden had previously met Pope Francis on several other occasions, including during the pope’s visit to the U.S. in 2015.
Biden also met with Pope Francis in June at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Apulia, Italy, where the two discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, according to a readout of the meeting.
Biden, who awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January, described him as a ‘consequential’ leader on Monday who was a ‘Pope for everyone.’
‘He was unlike any who came before him,’ Biden said in a post on X Monday morning. ‘Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders of our time and I am better for having known him. For decades, he served the most vulnerable across Argentina and his mission of serving the poor never ceased. As Pope, he was a loving pastor and challenging teacher who reached out to different faiths.’
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
