Pope Francis is the spiritual leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics who preaches for a more open church and empathy for migrants.

US Vice President JD Vance is a fervent Catholic convert determined to make his country a bastion of conservative values.

After Vance met with the Vatican's second-highest official -- secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin -- on Saturday, there was still no word of a possible engagement with the convalescing pontiff, who is recovering at 88 from life-threatening pneumonia.

With Rome readying for Easter Sunday -- the most sacred event on the calendar -- Vatican and US officials remained tight-lipped about any possible meeting between Vance and Francis, or even if there already had been one.

Given a recent spat between Francis and US President Donald Trump's administration, such talks might be expected to be tense.

There appears to be an ideological divide between Vance and Francis, but the number of points in which their views converge "are still quite numerous", said Francois Mabille, director of the Geopolitical Observatory of Religion at the........

© International Business Times