Pope Francis welcomed Vice President JD Vance to the Vatican at his residence in Casa Santa Marta on Sunday before delivering his Easter blessing and message from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Vance, 40, a Catholic convert, met with the Pope during his six-day trip between Italy and India for several minutes to exchange pleasantries on the Christian holiday.

“Today I met with the Holy Father Pope Francis. I am grateful for his invitation to meet, and I pray for his good health,” Vance wrote on X afterwards.

Vance and the Pope had met around 11:30 a.m. local time.

Francis has been critical of President Trump’s hardline approach to immigration. Back in February, he penned a missive to US bishops that ripped into the Trump administration’s immigration policies, calling it a “major crisis.”

“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,” he wrote in the letter.

Despite their differences, Vance and Francis exchanged niceties, and the Holy Father gifted him three chocolate Easter eggs for the veep’s children.

“I know you have not been feeling great, but it’s good to see you in better health,” Vance said to Francis during their brief meeting. “Thank you for seeing me.”

The 88-year-old pope has faced health issues over recent weeks. Last month, he was discharged from the hospital following a multi-week recovery process from a severe respiratory infection.

Amid his recovery, Francis delegated the saying of Easter Mass to Cardinal Angelo Comastri.

After the mass concluded, Francis took the popemobile into St. Peter’s Square for the first time since his battle with pneumonia earlier this year.

Chants of “Viva il Papa,” meaning long live the Pope, erupted from the crowd, estimated to be about 35,000 in size, in response.

“Buona Pasqua!” Francis exulted as he blessed the crowd. The phrase is Italian for “Happy Easter.”

The Pope also occasionally stopped to bless babies and waved to the devoted Catholics.

A surrogate read aloud the Pope’s Easter message, which appealed for people to help migrants and victims of violence.  

“May the principle of humanity never fail to be the hallmark of our daily actions,” Francis said during his blessing, with his voice sounding considerably stronger than it had several weeks ago.

“In the face of the cruelty of conflicts that involve defenseless civilians and attack schools, hospitals and humanitarian workers, we cannot allow ourselves to forget that it is not targets that are struck, but persons, each possessed of a soul and human dignity.”