White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Vance passed a long a letter to the pope from President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump “extending their warm wishes and inviting him to the White House as soon as he possibly can” visit.

Vance, a Catholic convert, had led the U.S. delegation to the formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American pope.

The much-anticipated encounter came amid a period of tension between the papacy and the White House, particularly over issues of immigration and theology.