Vice President JD Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in the federal government, said in an interview on Fox News on Monday that the pope should stay out of American affairs.
Mr. Vance, a convert to Catholicism who is about to publish a book detailing his turn to the faith, brushed off a backlash among Christians across the political spectrum to President Trump’s attacks against Pope Leo XIV. He said “that in some cases it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality.” Mr. Trump has clashed with the pontiff over matters of war and immigration, and on Sunday attacked him as “weak on crime.”
“Stick to matters of, you know, what’s going on in the Catholic Church,” Mr. Vance said when asked if he agreed with Mr. Trump’s attacks against the pope. “And let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.” He added: “When they are in conflict, they are in conflict. I don’t worry about it too much.”
He continued: “I think it’s a natural thing. I’m sure it will happen in the future and it’s not that big of a deal that it happened in the past.”
Mr. Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 at age 35, after private instruction with Dominican friars in Cincinnati. But his newfound faith has come with complications, as his views, particularly on immigration, have prompted strong denunciations from leaders in the Vatican and are in opposition to the priorities set by Leo, the first American pope.
The clash between Mr. Trump and the Vatican came just days after Mr. Vance and a team of American diplomats failed to reach a peace deal with Iran amid a cease-fire in the conflict. Leo is one of the world’s most powerful critics of the U.S. war with Iran, and has sharply disagreed with suggestions from the Trump administration that the war has divine sanction.