The U.S. delegation will honor the first American-born pontiff to lead the Catholic Church.
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, joined by their wives, second lady Usha Vance and Jeannette Rubio, will lead a U.S. delegation to the Vatican on May 18 for the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV, according to a statement from the White House.
Officials noted the significance of the event, with Leo XIV the first American-born pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church and Vance the first Catholic convert to serve as vice president.
Joe Biden was the first Catholic vice president of the United States.
The inaugural Mass is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and dignitaries and will formally install Leo XIV as the 267th pope.
Traditions include the bestowal of the fisherman’s ring and the pallium, symbols of his authority.
Ceremonies are set to begin at 10 a.m. Rome time and will feature a procession, the chant of “Laudes Regiae,” and a visit to St. Peter’s tomb, continuing customs that blend ancient ritual with modern global attention.
Set to unfold in St. Peter’s Square, the event marks a milestone for American Catholics and a delicate intersection of faith, politics, and international relations, considering the new pope’s past critiques of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
As Cardinal Robert Prevost, he shared articles on social media platform X criticizing Vance’s interpretation of Biblical scripture to justify immigration crackdowns, including one titled, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
In 2018, he decried policies separating migrant children from their parents as “morally indefensible.”
These posts, some as recent as April this year, suggest that Pope Leo XIV may continue Pope Francis’s progressive emphasis on social justice, potentially complicating relations with the Trump administration.
The pope has since deleted his account.
The U.S. delegation’s presence underscores the historic nature of the May 8 election of Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago-born cleric.
His ascension followed the death of Pope Francis on April 21 from complications related to double pneumonia.
