Vice President JD Vance, the top Catholic representative in the federal government, said Monday in an interview with Fox News that the Pope should stay out of American affairs, according to The New York Times.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism and is set to publish a book detailing his conversion, ignored the backlash from Christians across the political spectrum to President Trump's attacks on Pope Leo XIV.
He stated that “in certain cases it would be better for the Vatican to limit itself to matters of morality.” Trump has clashed with the Pope over war and immigration, and on Sunday attacked him, calling him “weak on crime”
The pope “should limit himself to matters of, you know, what's going on in the Catholic Church,” Vance said on Fox News' “Special Report with Bret Baier” when asked if he agreed with the US leader's attacks on the pope. “And let the President of the United States be in charge of setting American public policy.”
Regarding the differences between the two, Vance added, “When I'm at odds, I'm at odds. I don't worry too much about it.” He went on to explain that he sees this situation as something inevitable: “I think it's a natural thing. I'm sure it will happen in the future and it's not a big deal that it happened in the past.”
The standoff between Trump and the Vatican came just days after Vance and a team of US diplomats failed to broker a peace deal with Iran amid a fragile truce. Pope Leo XIV is one of the most vehement critics of the US-Iran war and has strongly opposed the Trump administration's suggestions that this conflict has divine approval.
In a recent sermon, Pope Leo said that the Christian mission has often been “distorted by the desire for domination, completely alien to the way of Jesus Christ.”
Regarding President Trump's attacks, Pope Leo XIV responded calmly, saying recently that he is not afraid of criticism from the White House and that he will continue his mission to preach peace, while warning that the message of the Gospel is being “abused” to justify political interests.
