India, April 22 -- When Vice President JD Vance arrived in Rome over Easter weekend, the buzz was already swirling: the Pope had reportedly declined to meet him. Critics speculated that Pope Francis, unwell and often at odds with Vance's political stances, had intentionally snubbed the rising Republican.

But, Vance did meet the Pope - on Easter Sunday morning, and on what would turn out to be the final full day of Francis's life.

As the streets of Rome shut down and a motorcade carried Vance past waving flags - the Stars and Stripes alongside the Vatican's yellow and white - the atmosphere shifted. Vance, a 40-year-old Catholic convert and one of the youngest men ever to serve as US vice president, was ushered into Casa Santa Marta, the...