![\"JD](\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/05\/19150342\/Jadvak-664x350.jpg\")
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Less than a month after breaking Vatican rules during a family tour, U.S. Vice President JD Vance is again under fire\u2014this time for breaching protocol during his first meeting with the newly elected Pope Leo XIV.<\/p>\n
While visiting the Sistine Chapel, Vance was photographed holding his son beneath Michelangelo\u2019s ceiling, despite strict bans on photography. The image went viral, drawing public criticism.<\/p>\n
Now, Vance\u2019s rocky relationship with the Vatican continues with Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, who has been labeled \u201canti-Trump\u201d by MAGA supporters. Before his election, the Chicago-born pope had criticized Republican immigration policies, clashing with Vance\u2019s public defense of mass deportations using Christian values. In response, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo) tweeted that \u201cJesus doesn\u2019t ask us to rank our love for others,\u201d indirectly calling Vance\u2019s theology misguided.<\/p>\n
Recently, Vance downplayed the friction, stating he won\u2019t \u201cpoliticize the pope,\u201d and emphasized that Catholicism transcends political divides.<\/p>\n
But the drama continued on May 18 during his official introduction to Pope Leo. Ignoring papal etiquette\u2014like no touching beyond a handshake\u2014Vance casually patted the pope\u2019s elbow. The moment went viral, with social media calling the move \u201ccringey\u201d and \u201cdisrespectful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Critics slammed Vance\u2019s behavior as tone-deaf and classless. One user wrote, \u201cThat low-class hillbilly\u2026 no manners, just a hillbilly.\u201d Others pointed out the pope\u2019s visible discomfort after the encounter.<\/p>\n
Vance was joined by his wife, Usha, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had arrived early for diplomatic talks.<\/p>\n