Vice President JD Vance faced sharp criticism Tuesday after he told a conservative audience that Pope Leo XIV should exercise caution when addressing public policy and theology.
Vance made the remarks on April 14 at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia in Athens. He addressed the current dispute between the pope and the Trump administration over U.S. and Israeli military operations in Iran.
“I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said, as first reported by The Hill.
JD Vance maintained that Pope Leo should stick to religious matters and leave the country’s policy matters to elected leaders and politicians.
The vice president disagreed with Pope Leo’s recent social media post that “God does not bless any conflict” and that Christians are different from people who “formerly wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
Vance asked whether God sided with American forces who liberated France from Nazi control and freed prisoners from Holocaust camps. “I certainly think the answer is yes,” he told the crowd.
Audience members heckled Vance during the remarks, with one shouting that “Jesus Christ does not support genocide.”
JD Vance is called out.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia and ordained Baptist pastor, has since condemned Vance’s language.
In an interview with Jen Psaki, Warnock called the vice president’s comments the kind of rhetoric used by “despots and wannabe despots.”
“This is how fascists talk,” Warnock said. “They tell the people who are faith leaders to ‘stay in your lane.’
Warnock made a historical comparison without saying that the two times were the same, and pointed out that many Protestant and Catholic churches in Nazi Germany shied away from speaking out against the regime’s antisemitism and violence against Jews.
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, church institutions often limited their public role to personal piety and individual morality in place of challenging systemic state actions.
Warnock, the senior pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, said that religious leaders have a duty to talk about issues of justice in society, such as war and peace.
The clash traces back to Pope Leo’s repeated calls to end fighting in Iran, which began February 28, after Israel and the U.S. targeted Iranian military targets and leadership. Iran also responded by targeting Israel and American assets in the Middle East.
At the moment, a 14-day ceasefire is in place as talks aimed at ending the war happen behind the scenes.
Pope Leo, the first American-born pontiff, has described the conflict as driven by a “delusion of omnipotence.”
He said that Trump’s threats to destroy an entire civilization were wrong and advised that the fighting sides should talk instead of using force.
On a flight earlier this week, he said he has “no fear” of the Trump administration and would continue championing peace, multilateral solutions, and reconciliation grounded in Gospel teachings.
Also Read: Mike Johnson Pushes Back on Pope Leo’s Comments That God Rejects Prayers of Those Who Wage War
President Trump hit back at the pope, labeling the him “weak” on certain issues. Trump also claimed that Pope Leo might not hold his position if he had not returned to the White House.
The pontiff rejected that claim and said he views foreign policy through an alternative lens, focused on human dignity.
Vance’s remarks
The vice president said he likes that the pope speaks out for peace, even when he doesn’t agree with him. Still, he stressed that theological statements should stay grounded.
The Athens event also featured heckling on other topics, including one protester shouting that the U.S. has allowed its close ally, Israel, to allegedly kill children in Gaza.
Vance pushed back by noting that a ceasefire is in place in Gaza because of the Trump administration, adding that humanitarian aid coming into Gaza has increased since Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
