Vice President JD Vance sparked a firestorm of criticism this week after publicly lecturing Pope Leo XIV on Catholic theology, telling the pontiff to “be careful” when discussing religious matters—despite Vance having converted to Catholicism just seven years ago.
The 41-year-old vice president made the stunning remarks on Tuesday at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia, escalating the Trump administration’s ongoing feud with the Vatican over the war with Iran.
The comments targeted Pope Leo XIV’s recent criticism of President Donald Trump’s military action in Iran. The 70-year-old pontiff had condemned the conflict last Friday, stating that “God does not bless any conflict” and declaring that Christians are “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
Vance challenged the pope’s theological position by invoking just war theory, seemingly unaware of a glaring irony: Pope Leo XIV previously served as Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine for twelve years and remains the first-ever pope from that order. St. Augustine of Hippo, along with St. Thomas Aquinas, developed the very just war doctrine Vance attempted to explain to the pontiff.
Vance asked at the event how the pope could say “God is never on the side of those who wield the sword,” citing “more than a thousand-year tradition of just war theory.”
The timing proved particularly awkward. While Vance lectured on St. Augustine’s teachings from Georgia, Pope Leo XIV was physically visiting the archaeological site of Hippo in Annaba, Algeria—the very location where St. Augustine served as bishop until his death in 430. The pope planted an olive tree at the site during his ongoing visit to four countries across Africa.
The Catholic Church’s response came swiftly. Bishop James Massa, 65, the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, issued a statement on Wednesday on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine that delivered a pointed rebuke to the vice president.
Massa’s statement affirmed that when Pope Leo XIV “speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ.” The bishop emphasized that Catholic doctrine requires nations to take up arms only “in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.”
Pope Leo XIV holds a theology degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He also served in the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, Peru, giving him decades of theological training and pastoral experience.
Vance, by contrast, converted to Catholicism in August 2019 at age 35 after being raised in a loosely evangelical tradition and identifying as an atheist during his college years. He chose St. Augustine as his patron saint.
The controversy adds to mounting tensions between the Trump administration and the Vatican. President Trump blasted the pope on Truth Social over the weekend before posting an artificial intelligence-generated image widely criticized as blasphemous, depicting himself in Christ-like imagery.
Vance’s theological credentials faced additional scrutiny earlier this month when he announced his forthcoming 304-page memoir about converting to Catholicism, titled “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” The book’s cover features Mount Zion Church in Elk Creek, Virginia—a congregation of the United Methodist Church’s Holston Conference, not a Catholic church.
The incident generated viral backlash across social media, with late-night host Stephen Colbert among those mocking the vice president’s audacity in lecturing the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide.
Vance’s evolution from Trump critic to loyal defender remains striking. In 2016, private messages revealed he called Trump “America’s Hitler” and “a cynical ****” before eventually joining the 2022 Senate campaign that launched his political alliance with Trump.