Vance warns the pope should 'be careful' when talking about theology

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NBC News

Trump administration
Vance warns the pope should 'be careful' when talking about theology

Vance, who is Catholic, said the pope was wrong in saying Jesus wasn’t on the side of those who wield the sword, pointing to the U.S.’ helping defeat the Nazis during World War II.

{snip video}
Vance says pope should ‘be careful’ when talking about theology

April 14, 2026, 11:01 PM EDT
By Raquel Coronell Uribe

Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV should “be careful” when he talks about theology, rebuking the pontiff over his criticisms of U.S. foreign policy.

Vance argued that the pope, who has said Jesus “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs,” was failing to take into account conflicts such as World War II.

“Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis? Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps and liberated those, those innocent people, you know, those who had survived the Holocaust? I certainly think the answer is yes,” he said at a Turning Point USA event in Athens, Georgia.

Vance, who is Catholic and met with the pope in May, said that he likes it when the pope weighs in on issues such as abortion, immigration or “matters of war and peace” but that he sometimes disagrees with him.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/vance-warns-pope-careful-talking-theology-rcna331881

[FarPoint]

1. Vance is a Catholic convert at that.....

low level Catholic essentially..... he really does not understand .....

[cab67]

16. but he's probably more fervent in his certainty.

Converts to any religion or movement tend to be that way.

[Ocelot II]

34. Recent converts tend to be more devout (fanatical, if you like) than long-time members

of any religion or denomination. And Vance, being an arrogant, condescending know-it-all with respect to pretty much everything, figures that his wonderful, miraculous conversion entitles him to tell the head of an enormous 2,000-year-old religious organization that he's doing it wrong. By the way, Pope Leo has a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, and he taught canon law at a seminary for years, so Vice President Abuser of Upholstered Furniture should be deeply embarrassed for making that remark, but you know he isn't.

[ananda]

35. CINO

Catholic in name only

[msongs]

2. one suspects the pope woulda sold out that arena in athens.... nt

[alwaysinasnit]

3. Is Vance actually pontificating to the Pontiff?

Last edited Wed Apr 15, 2026, 01:52 PM - Edit history (1)

[underpants]

9. I saw this on the chryon on Morning Joe and actually laughed.

🙄😂

[agingdem]

37. I don't believe in an afterlife

Last edited Wed Apr 15, 2026, 01:29 PM - Edit history (1)

but I'm willing to make an exception for Vance (and Trump)...I'm thinking a Hell where JD is standing, his feet super glued to a bed of nails, a loudspeaker bellowing his word vomit, surrounded by videos of the Pope and Erika Kirk on a never-ending loop...

[Norrrm]

39. Maybe Earth is the all-purpose afterlife. Heaven for some and Hell for others.

[eShirl]

4. pretty sure Chicago Pope has been Catholicing a lot longer than Jaydee

[AZ8theist]

5. Vance is a fucking moron, just like his boss.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. "Be careful or else"?

Past Popes haven't groveled to the Mob. Why would this one bend the knee to Vance or Trump?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. JD Vance has been Catholic just as long as a class of second graders who just took their First Communion.

Kevin M. Kruse
‪@kevinmkruse.bsky.social‬

JD Vance only converted to Catholicism in 2019. He's been Catholic just as long as a class of second graders who just took their First Communion.

If Vance disagrees with the actual pope, he's free to fuck off and find a yet another faith he can cynically exploit for his own political career.

‪Daniel Rober‬
‪@profdanrober.bsky.social‬
· 10h
This should be embarrassing for the Very Serious Conservative Catholics who carry water for this administration.


8:22 PM · Apr 14, 2026

JD Vance only converted to Catholicism in 2019. He's been Catholic just as long as a class of second graders who just took their First Communion.

If Vance disagrees with the actual pope, he's free to fuck off and find a yet another faith he can cynically exploit for his own political career.

— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) 2026-04-15T00:22:17.050Z

Daniel Rober
‪@profdanrober.bsky.social‬

This should be embarrassing for the Very Serious Conservative Catholics who carry water for this administration.


7:27 PM · Apr 14, 2026

This should be embarrassing for the Very Serious Conservative Catholics who carry water for this administration.

— Daniel Rober (@profdanrober.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T23:27:41.464Z

[underpants]

10. Yes, BUT he's written a book about it 👀😳🙄

[VTderry]

44. "... anchored in the truth"??? Like

"Somalians are eating people's pets"??? That kind of being careful with the truth, JD?

[Walleye]

8. If God is on our side, She will stop the next war

[niyad]

14. Yes!

[Buddyzbuddy]

11. The guy who can't decide on a f*cking name for himself

is going to lecture the man whose whole life has been about theology and Catholicism.
What a damn loser. Vance, not the Pope.
These guys think it's commendable to double down when they're obviously wrong.

Before this is over, couch boy is gonna have to change his name and religion all over again. Should be easy, he's already one of Satan's soldiers.

[eppur_se_muova]

19. The wronger they are, the downer they double. nt

[Chasstev365]

12. Ex-communicate the Heretic!

[Rebl2]

26. I was

wondering if the Pope could do that. Can he? Do you think he would if he can?

[orangecrush]

13. Quiet, punk.

[tanyev]

15. Poor JD. Finally found the religion of his dreams, wrote a book all about it

and now the guy in charge isn’t running it it the way JD thinks it should be run.

[eppur_se_muova]

17. Yeah, leave that to the experts ! nt

[llmart]

18. I'm still trying to get over the headline...

"Vance warns". That swarmy little punkass, eyeline wearing, couch lover fraud thinks he's a tough guy who's going to intimidate the Pope. Does he even see how ridiculous we think he is? No wonder he can't even sell out two rows at one of his "speeches".

He's about as religious as his phony boss.

[AZLD4Candidate]

20. World War 2? This cretin is comparing Iran to WW2? Grasping at straws much?

[NNadir]

21. Um, um, um....

[JohnnyRingo]

22. We didn't attack the Nazis you idiot! Now we're the Nazis.

"...is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs" seem like very carefully chosen words to me.

[mcar]

23. Catholic-splaining the Pope?

Nice work, J Divan, you tool.

[LeftInTX]

24. Hey JD, if you don't like it, quit your job and find your own religion!!!

[FakeNoose]

25. There's a misconception about "Papal infallibility"

Catholics are taught to believe that the Pope can never be wrong when he's speaking about matters of faith and belief. Catholics believe that the Pope is guided by the Holy Spirit and therefore his decrees on faith will always be correct, merciful, and just.

Well OK, non-Catholics aren't so sure about that, but let's move on. Whenever the Pope speaks about politics and current events, there's no such thing as "Papal Infallibility" because he's giving his opinion, which he's entitled to do. But nobody thinks the Holy Spirit is guiding him, it's just one man's opinion.

I respect Pope Leo's opinions, just as I had great respect for Pope Francis. However no American Catholics are required to believe that his opinions are "infallible" because they aren't. He's telling us how he sees things, based on his growing up in Chicago, becoming a priest, and being a missionary in Peru, and now living in the Vatican. I feel that I can trust Pope Leo far more than I can trust Chump or any GOP member.

[walkingman]

27. This religious BS is getting on my last nerve. ☮

[SSJVegeta]

28. Thought this was the onion

[SheltieLover]

29. Quiet, Maybelline

?si=yQPoEjNLqU6amDW7

[Goonch]

30. ;-{) PREACHING TO THE CHOIR

[dalton99a]

31. NEXT: Trump Announces U.S. Military's Capture of "Disgraceful" Pope

Swiss Guards surrender swords and spears

[Bayard]

32. I don't think its smart to be telling the Pope what to do

He reports to a higher authority than you do, JD.

[Norrrm]

40. Higher than Trump?

???

[hamsterjill]

33. I'm confused.

Okay, so JD, WAS there a holocaust? Or wasn't there a holocaust? Because most of the Trumpers that I know think it was all fake and that Hitler was awesome.

Or did the holocaust occur only when it's convenient for your argument?.

And by the way, when it comes to theology, I'm afraid Pope Leo is WAY out of your league.

[JHB]

36. I'm going to dispute the "Vance, who is Catholic" part. Vance's true religion is...

Last edited Wed Apr 15, 2026, 02:18 PM - Edit history (1)

...sucking up to power. Whether it's Trump or Thiel, Vance's sacrament is putting his lips on their anatomy: ass, toes, elsewhere... How much do you want to bet that the only reason he pretends to be Catholic is for the optics?

It's not a matter of conscience, because he doesn't have one.

[BigDemVoter]

38. The Pope should just excommunicte his fat ass.

[jcboon]

41. Vance is an idiot.

[maxsolomon]

42. Got hilf uns.

I made the mistake of reading the FB comments on a WSJ article on this subject. Trumpers call Leo the "Chicago Pope", as if that city's Liberalism disqualifies any comments.

[Scalded Nun]

43. Careful who you piss off there...Remember, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition

[LetMyPeopleVote]

45. MaddowBlog-Vance escalates White House offensive against Pope Leo

If the White House sees a political upside to its increasingly outlandish papal rebukes, it’s mistaken.

As JD Vance presses the pope to be “careful when he talks about matters of theology” — no, seriously, that’s what he said — a simple question hands overhead:

What exactly is the White House’s strategy here? Do Trump and Vance think the pope will be bullied into silence?
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-15T12:59:00.596Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/vance-trump-pope-catholic-church

Not to be outdone, his vice president — the first Catholic Republican to ever hold the office — has joined the rhetorical offensive.

On Monday night, JD Vance appeared on Fox News and insisted that “it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality … and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.” Putting aside the fact that the president isn’t supposed to be “dictating” anything, the Ohio Republican’s advice didn’t make a lot of sense: The pope drew Trump’s ire by speaking out on matters such as a deadly and destabilizing war in the Middle East and the plight of immigrants seeking a better life, both of which are, by any reasonable measure, “matters of morality.”

A day later, he upped the ante in an unexpected way. NBC News reported:

Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV should ‘be careful’ when he talks about theology, rebuking the pontiff over his criticisms of U.S. foreign policy.

Vance argued that the pope, who has said Jesus ‘is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs,’ was failing to take into account conflicts such as World War II.

....Do Trump and Vance believe Leo will be intimidated into silence? Are they trying to send a signal to other religious leaders opposed to the war? Do they believe they can discredit the pontiff, who enjoys stronger public support than they do? Do the Republicans think they’ll appear “tough” by picking a fight with the Vatican? Is this all some sort of elaborate distraction campaign?

I won’t pretend to know their motivation, but if Trump and Vance see a political upside to their increasingly outlandish papal scoldings, they’re mistaken.