Vice President J.D. Vance has expressed opposition to Pope Leo XIV’s views on immigration, stating in a recent interview that American Catholics should not necessarily align with the pope on all political matters.
The differences between Vance and the newly appointed pope were highlighted during an interview with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat on May 21, 2025. Both were present in Rome, Italy, for Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass. The vice president voiced his disagreement with the pope’s more liberal stance on immigration, emphasizing his responsibility to uphold law and order in the United States.
Pope Leo XIV, originally Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago, Illinois, made history on May 8, 2025, by becoming the first American to lead the Catholic Church. Previously, the 69-year-old served as the head of the Vatican office responsible for reviewing bishop nominations worldwide before ascending to the papacy.
Vance defended the stringent immigration policies of the Trump administration, arguing that excessive immigration threatens American social unity. “I really do think that social solidarity is destroyed when you have too much migration too quickly,” the vice president remarked during the interview.
The disagreement between these two prominent Catholic figures is longstanding. Before becoming pope, then-Cardinal Prevost had criticized Vance’s political views on social media. On February 3, 2025, Prevost shared an article from the National Catholic Reporter with the headline “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
This criticism followed Vance’s appearance on Fox News in late January 2025, where he discussed his interpretation of “ordo amoris,” a theological concept advising Christians to prioritize their love hierarchically, starting with family, then neighbors, community, fellow citizens, and ultimately the rest of the world. Vance used this doctrine to defend the administration’s immigration policies.
Pope Leo XIV’s opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies extends beyond social media. In April 2025, the then-cardinal shared commentary from Catholic writer Rocco Palmo, which criticized both Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele concerning the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father mistakenly sent to El Salvador’s prison system.
During his interview with Douthat, Vance acknowledged the difficult balance between his Catholic faith and his political responsibilities. He explained that he cannot simply “do everything the Holy Father tells me to do” because of his obligations to serve the American people. The vice president noted that he does not “just disregard” Church hierarchy positions but makes “a prudential judgment informed very much by the Church’s teachings.”
Vance expressed his concerns about social cohesion in the United States, stating that he considers “how we form the kind of society again where people can raise families, where people join institutions together.” He argued that advocates of mass migration overlook the detrimental effects of current immigration levels and pace on the common good.
The vice president emphasized that his opposition to current immigration levels is not driven by animosity toward migrants. Instead, he stated that he is “trying to preserve something in my own country where we are a unified nation.”
During their meeting at the Vatican on May 19, 2025, tensions between Vance and Pope Leo XIV were apparent in their brief interaction. The pope engaged in only a 17-second exchange with Vance during the procession line after the inaugural Mass, while holding extensive private meetings with other world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte.
Vance delivered a letter from President Trump inviting Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States. The Chicago-born pope accepted the letter and was heard saying “at some point” in response to the invitation, according to Vatican Media footage.
The vice president also explained why he did not follow the traditional protocol of kissing the pope’s ring during their meeting. He noted that while this is a common gesture of respect for the pontiff, kissing the ring of a foreign leader would be against protocol for an American vice president.
Pope Leo XIV has been an active presence on social media since 2011, using his platform to discuss topics such as immigration, racism, and other political issues. His X account gained hundreds of thousands of followers after his papal election, with many examining his past posts for insights into his political positions.
The pope’s social media activity included criticism of Trump’s immigration policies dating back to 2015, when he shared an article by Cardinal Timothy Dolan titled “Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.” He has also supported gun violence reform measures and expressed solidarity with movements for racial justice.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in August 2019 at age 35, represents a growing movement of Catholic post-liberalism that critiques individual freedom in favor of state-sponsored promotion of traditional values. His political philosophy draws from the teachings of St. Augustine, the same saint whose order Pope Leo XIV belongs to as a member of the Augustinians.
The relationship between Pope Leo XIV and the Trump administration remains complicated by their fundamental disagreements on immigration policy. The pope has indicated his intention to continue the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who frequently criticized Trump’s immigration enforcement during both his first and second presidencies.
