Vice President JD Vance on Thursday reacted to the news of the newly elected Pope Robert Prevost, who took the name Leo XIV. Congratulations to Leo XIV, the first American Pope, on his election !’ the vice president wrote on X. ‘I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!’ Vance converted to the Catholic faith in 2019 and was one of the last public officials to meet with Pope Francis before he died.

The vice president did not respond the pope’s old posts on X when he was Cardinal Provost and shared op-eds and articles critical of President Trump and Vance on the issue of immigration. In January, Vance cited the Christian concept of ‘ordo amoris,’ (rightly ordered love) during an interview defending President Trump’s immigration policies, citing a hierarchy of Christian obligations to one’s family and fellow citizens before others in the world.

‘You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world,’ Vance said in an interview on Fox News . He later defended his reasoning on social media. ‘The idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense,’ Vance wrote on social media.

In early 2025, Prevost shared two articles in reaction to Vance’s argument. The first article was a critical op-ed authored by author Kat Armas published by the more progressive Catholic news website the National Catholic Reporter. ‘JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,’ the headline read as Armas criticized Vance for using the medieval concept to defend his vision of immigration.

‘The empire’s vision of love is built on scarcity, but the kingdom of God is built on abundance,’ she wrote. ‘If we find ourselves asking, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ — we are already missing the point. The better question is: How do I love without limits?’ The second article was by Jesuit priest Sam Sawyer of the Jesuit Review that was also critical of Vance’s position. ‘Pope Francis’ letter, JD Vance’s ‘ordo amoris’ and what the Gospel asks of all of us on immigration,’ the headline read, as Sawyer complained that ‘many Catholics, and quite possibly the majority of Catholics, voted not only in toleration but in eager support of a view of immigration and immigrants that is starkly different than the one taught by the church.’

Sawyer added that he was ‘a little surprised by the pope’s choice to intervene’ in the debate but suggested that ‘his intervention reflects both a concern and a hope for how U.S. Catholics allow the Gospel to purify us and call us to conversion about our response to immigrants.’ Without naming Vance directly, Francis addressed the concept of ‘ordo amoris’ specifically in a February letter to the United States on the issue of immigration.

‘The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation,’ Francis wrote in a letter to the bishops of the United States. ‘The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan” (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.’

Despite their public clash, Vance met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Easter during his trip to Rome. The private meeting lasted only for a few minutes. “I know you have not been feeling great, but it’s good to see you in better health ,’ Vance told Pope Francis and added, “I pray for you every day.”

The next morning, Vance reacted to the news of Pope Francis’s death. ‘I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill,’ he said. ‘But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful.’

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