'Why did you kill the Pope?' Will JD Vance attend Pope Francis' funeral amidst the outrage?

JD Vance has found himself in the middle of a fresh controversy! The Vice President of the United States of America had a brief meeting with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday at the Vatican – just a day before the 88-year-old Catholic pontiff passed away on Monday. This incident triggered a bunch of bizarre reactions on the internet, including several memes and a conspiracy theory stating that Vance ‘killed’ the Pope – with an echoing question directed to the VP, “Why did you kill the Pope?”

Why did you kill the Pope

— helly (@h3llyr) April 23, 2025

On Sunday, Vance was welcomed in one of the reception rooms of the Vatican hotel. In addition to a Vatican tie and rosaries, the 88-year-old pope presented Vance three giant chocolate Easter eggs for his three young kids, who were not present at the meeting.


After the death of Pope Francis, Vance paid tribute to the late Pope and shared a post on X (formerly, Twitter), writing, “I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.” He added, “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful.” He concluded the post, saying, “May God rest his soul.”

I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.

I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days…

— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 21, 2025

However, the meme and troll-fueled outrage was far from over.


With the late Pope’s funeral scheduled on Saturday, the pressing question is – will JD Vance attend Pope Francis’ funeral on April 26, 2025?


Will JD Vance attend Pope’s funeral?

JD Vance is currently on his first official state visit to India, along with his wife, the Second Lady Usha Vance, and their three children. On Wednesday, as the VP in Agra with his family, he commented on how he reflected on his meeting with the Pope hours before the Pope passed away and said it was 'pretty crazy'.


When asked if he was planning to attend the funeral of the Pope, Vance said he was neither planning to attend the funeral nor planning not to attend it.

The VP said that it was not yet decided who from the government would attend the funeral.

On the other hand, the White House, however, announced that the US President Donald Trump would be attending the funeral.


The meme-fest!

As Vance and Pope Francis' brief meeting occurred on Sunday, following a lengthy dispute over the US President Donald Trump administration's plans to deport migrants, the internet erupted over the argument – whether that brief meeting with Vance had ‘killed’ the old and sickly Pope or not.

It was an honor to meet with Pope Francis, Prime Minister Meloni, and Church officials in Italy this weekend. 

Visiting Rome with my family during Holy Week was an incredible experience. pic.twitter.com/pAxKmKxUst

— Vice President JD Vance (@VP) April 21, 2025

A netizen commented, "It’s heartbreaking that Pope Francis, in his final days, poured his waning strength into reaching out to you, JD, desperately trying to save your soul from the toxic influence of a false prophet and conman, Donald Trump. How tragic that he wasted those precious moments on a performative Christian who craved a photo op while privately scorning the Pope’s passing, likely because Francis dared to challenge you to treat migrants with basic human dignity and reject the demonic grip of Trump’s lies. As the world mourns a true servant of God in 2025, your betrayal of Christ’s teachings stings even deeper, aligning with the divisive rhetoric still poisoning our nation’s discourse!"

Another tagged Vance as the Grim Reaper and said, "Lmao! You’ve heard of the Grim Reaper, we’ll meet @JDVance The Grim Creeper."

pic.twitter.com/uiIIRKQ7qV

— Paul Leigh-Some Rascal on the Internet 🟧🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@Pleightx) April 21, 2025

Several Vance critics asked him, “What did you do bro, what did you do,” “Did you feel a bit of guilt for insisting to meet him while he was so fragile?” as the netizens kept flooding with bizarre requests like, “JD, please visit George Soros next,” “Can you meet with Putin next?”

While some people even went to blast Vance, saying that “You’re not fit to even mention his name,” one defended Vance, saying, "JD Vance’s trip to Rome isn’t just about a nice photo op. It’s about positioning himself as a leader who understands the importance of faith and international diplomacy."