Vatican City - After leaving the Marines and starting a higher education, Vice President JD Vance fell into atheism - struggling, he would eventually write with his beliefs and his “insignificant desire for the acceptance of the American elite society.”
Vance later converted to Catholic Vance this weekend to the Vatican for the second time in less than a month. On his first visit, Vance met Pope Francis a few hours before Easter's death. Vance led a U.S. delegation at the first American-born Pope Leo Xiv on Sunday.
Two Popes - Francis, who had previously served as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost during his Pope, provided masked cover, but could easily decipher the “America First” worldview of Donald Trump and Vance. Vance, who is somewhat disagreeable to those who appreciate the debate so much, chooses to politely avoid criticism. But the situation in the past few weeks has brought his unexpected focus to his religion, thus strengthening his position as one of the highest-ranked Catholics in the world in the political office.
At Sunday's Mass, the Vice President won the main seat in the first row to the right of Dais, near the delegation from Italy and Peru, the Pope was a naturalized citizen and served as bishop and archbishop.
Leo talks about “hatred, violence, prejudice, fear of difference and too many wounds caused by an economic paradigm that exploits the resources of the planet and marginalizes the poorest” in its sympathy in Italian, according to the Vatican translation.
Vance and second wife Usha Vance briefly greeted the pope before leaving the Vatican on Sunday.
"Of course, the Pope of the United States is very proud of him, very excited about him, and of course excited about him," Vance said in Rome on Sunday afternoon with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von von der Leyen.
The White House is eager to frame this weekend's visit in a historic way.
"Pope Leo XIV is the first pope in the United States. Vice President Vance is the first Catholic to serve as Vice President," Vance's office emphasized when announcing the trip.
Vance is the second Catholic to serve as vice president, behind Joe Biden, the second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy. Biden grew up in the Catholic Church, and Vance came to it as an adult. Joining Vance in Rome and the Vatican this weekend is Father Henry Stephen, a pastor who was baptized in 2019.
After landing in Rome at sunset on Saturday night, Vance's convoy first accelerated to the Cathedral of St. Mary, where he and the Second Lady pay homage to Frances' grave.
In February, Francis sent a letter to the American bishop, many of whom believed Trump's immigration policy in general, especially for the justification. Vance responded to try to ease any tension. Speaking at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in the same month, Vance said that despite the surprise of Francis' criticism, the pope was “basically, a man cared for the Christian community under his leadership.”
This quote is in Vance, known for his aggressive online image, who lamented the unhealthy discourse of religious discourse at the rise of social media. (Vance forgives Trump's recent post, which contains an image of AI, portraying the president as a papal.)
“We are not called Christians obsessed with every social media controversy involving the Catholic Church,” Vance said. “Whether it involves clergy, bishop or the Father himself, I think we should be frank about taking a page from the grandparents’ books, who respect our clergy, who seek guidance from them, but not obsessed with or hitting every word that comes out of their mouths and goes into social media, which I think is bad.”
After Leo was elected, Vance raised the same tone as the story the pope shared on social media attracted attention to Trump and the cardinals criticized by Vance. In an interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, Vance put forward a subtle answer and said he prefers “not participating in the politicization of the Pope’s game.”
However, for Vance's full social media hype, he conveyed to him the authority he didn't want to cross before he became Vice President.
In a 2020 article, he wrote a Catholic diary about his conversion in The Lamp, Vance recalls "a conservative Catholic writer about his criticism of the Pope." Vance asserted: “Too many American Catholics fail to show proper respect for the Pope, and regarding the Pope as a politician should be criticized or praised for their whimsical thoughts.”
Vance's conversion is still part of his not-so-bottom line in the past. Apart from the baptism of public audiences, Vance talks about his spiritual journey, in addition to the lighting essays and ideas he shared with a friend of a conservative writer.
During the February Catholic prayer breakfast, Vance points to his faith marriage to Usha, the Hindus, and how they raise Catholics of three children, while allowing them to decide when to be baptized. He said his most exciting moment in November last year—a month of being elected vice president—when his seven-year-old son chose to be baptized.
"One of the things I tried to remind myself as a convert is that I don't know a lot," Vance said that day. "When I was a kid, we used to call the new convertible baby Christian. I was very aware that I was an infant Catholic and I didn't know about the faith. So when I talk about faith publicly, I would do my best to do my best, because I certainly wouldn't always get it right."