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….