Why Did J.D. Vance Decide to Convert to Catholicism? Inside His Religious Journey

As part of the Trump administration, J.D. Vance is consistently a key figure in controversial policies and directives that make headlines worldwide — however, with the recent death of Pope Francis, an increased focus has been directed at his conversion to Catholicism.

The former Ohio State senator was thrust into the national spotlight in summer 2024 when he was announced by Donald Trump as his running mate for vice president during his second presidential term.

In August 2019, Vance was formally baptized and confirmed as Catholic and he explained his decision in an exclusive interview with The American Conservative. “I became persuaded over time that Catholicism was true,” he said. “I was raised Christian, but never had a super-strong attachment to any denomination, and was never baptized. When I became more interested in faith, I started out with a clean slate, and looked at the church that appealed most to me intellectually.”

“When I looked at the people who meant the most to me, they were Catholic,” Vance continued. “My uncle by marriage is a Catholic. Rene Girard is someone I only know by reading him, and he was Catholic. I’ve been reading and studying about it for three years, or even longer. It was time.”

During the interview, Vance also revealed that he would have converted well before 2019. “It probably would have happened sooner if the sex abuse crisis, or the newest version of it, hadn’t made a lot of headlines. It forced me to process the church as a divine and a human institution, and what it would mean for my two year old son. But I never really questioned over the past few years that I would become Catholic,” he said.

On Easter Sunday, mere hours before his passing, Pope Francis met with Vance during his visit to the Vatican. Many have speculated what was discussed in the conversation between the two, as the Pope recently took Vance to task for his views and decisions regarding immigration.

Vance has not disclosed what was said in the meeting, but referred to it as “an honor." The visit was also unannounced because Vance was invited at the Pope’s request.

Following the death of Pope Francis, Vance took to X (formerlyTwitter) to address his death. "I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful," he wrote.

Pope Francis died at age 88 from a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse, according to The Associated Press. His death was confirmed by the head of the Vatican’s health department, Dr. Andrea Arcangeli.