JD Vance Emphasizes His Catholic Faith During Second Vatican Visit

After completing his service in the Marines and beginning college, Vice President JD Vance found himself drifting away from faith. He described this period as one marked by a feeling of “irrelevance” in his beliefs and a longing for acceptance among the American elite, as he later wrote candidly.

Now a Catholic convert, Vance made his second trip to the Vatican in under a month this past weekend. His first visit coincided with Easter, where he met Pope Francis just hours before the pontiff passed away. On Sunday, he returned to lead a U.S. delegation at the inaugural Mass of the new pope — Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States.

While both Francis and Leo — formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — have issued implicit critiques of Donald Trump and Vance’s “America First” ideology, Vance has chosen a tactful response. Known for his combative edge, especially online, Vance has kept the focus on his faith — a move that underscores his position as one of the most prominent Catholic figures in global politics.

During Sunday’s Mass, Vance sat front and center, flanked by delegations from Italy and Peru, the latter of which has strong ties to the new pope, who once served as a bishop and archbishop there.

In his homily, delivered in Italian, Leo lamented the wounds left by “hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference,” and a global economy that sidelines the poor and depletes the Earth’s resources. The Vatican later provided an English translation.

Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, greeted the new pope before departing.

“The United States is incredibly proud,” Vance said at a trilateral meeting later that day with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Our prayers go with him.”

The White House took a moment to mark the historical significance: Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, and Vance, the first Catholic convert to hold the vice presidency. His office stressed that distinction in announcing the trip.

Vance follows Joe Biden as only the second Catholic vice president. Biden, however, was born into the faith. Vance found it later in life. He was accompanied in Rome by Father Henry Stephan, the priest who baptized him in 2019.

Upon arriving in Rome Saturday evening, Vance’s first stop was the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he and Usha paid their respects at Pope Francis’ tomb.

Tensions between Vance and the Vatican have surfaced before. Back in February, Pope Francis sent a letter to U.S. bishops that many viewed as a pointed critique of Trump’s immigration policies — and by extension, Vance’s defense of them. But Vance sought to ease tensions. Speaking at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, he acknowledged the pope’s concern and described Francis as “a man deeply concerned with his flock.”

Vance also criticized the corrosive effect of social media on faith dialogue. He pointed to Trump’s AI-generated image depicting himself as pope and dismissed it as a joke, while calling on Christians not to dwell on such episodes. “We are not called as Christians to obsess over every social media controversy involving the Church,” he said, urging a return to the quieter reverence of previous generations.

After Leo’s election, old social media posts from the pope resurfaced — posts that appeared critical of both Trump and Vance. Speaking with Hugh Hewitt, Vance resisted fueling the fire. “I prefer not to play the politicization of the pope game,” he said.

Still, his respect for the papacy has long been clear. In a 2020 essay for The Lamp, Vance described pushing back against a conservative Catholic writer who had criticized the pope. American Catholics, he wrote, often lack the proper reverence for the office and treat the pope as just another political figure.

Despite its importance, Vance’s conversion is rarely spotlighted. Aside from his Lamp essay and comments to a conservative writer friend at his baptism, he has kept his spiritual life mostly private.

At the Catholic prayer breakfast, Vance opened up slightly. He spoke about his interfaith marriage — his wife Usha is Hindu — and said they are raising their children Catholic, with the freedom to decide when to be baptized. His most cherished moment last November, he said, wasn’t the election win but his 7-year-old son choosing baptism.

“As a convert, I realize how much I still don’t know,” Vance told the crowd. “I try to approach the faith with humility. I’m a baby Catholic, and I’m still learning.”