Joshua Bennett
J.D. Vance, the vice-presidential candidate for the Republican Party in the 2024 election, converted to Catholicism in 2019. He has described himself as a postliberal Catholic, endorsing policies such as purging the administrative state and promoting pro-family policies. Vance's conversion to Catholicism has been a topic of interest for many, with some questioning his motives and whether he has fallen under the influence of thinkers with their own agendas. He has written extensively about his faith journey, including a 6,777-word essay in a Catholic magazine and a memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which sold over 3 million copies.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of conversion | 2019 |
| Reason for conversion | Catholicism was the closest expression of his kind of Christianity |
| Catholic movement | Postliberalism |
| Political affiliation | Republican |
| Political ideology | Right-wing on culture, left-wing on economics |
| Political associations | Trumpism, Populism, National conservatism |
| Religious influences | Saint Augustine |
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What You'll Learn
J.D. Vance's Catholic conversion in 2019
J.D. Vance, the vice-presidential candidate for the Republican Party in 2024, converted to Catholicism in 2019. He was baptized Catholic in August of that year.
Vance has written extensively about his faith journey, including a 6,777-word essay in the Easter 2020 issue of the Catholic magazine, The Lamp, titled "How I Joined the Resistance." In the essay, Vance describes how he went from a drug-using teenager with anger problems and doubts about God to an accomplished family man excited about his new faith. He also touches on his chaotic childhood and the destructive behavior of his family members, particularly his mother, who abused prescription drugs.
Vance's conversion to Catholicism was influenced by his wife, Usha, a Hindu, and his conversations with Dominican friars. He saw Catholicism as the closest expression of the type of Christianity practiced by his grandmother ("Mamaw"), which was obsessed with virtue and sympathetic to the poor and meek.
Vance identifies as a "postliberal" or "post-liberal" Catholic, a movement that emphasizes the communal good over individual liberty and draws heavily from Church teachings, particularly pre-conciliar popes like Pius IX and Leo XIII. He has endorsed policies favored by this subset of Catholicism, such as "pro-family" policies, and his legislative record has brought relatively obscure ideologies, like integralism, closer to political power.
Vance's Catholicism has been a topic of interest and scrutiny, with some questioning his commitment to certain pro-life and conservative values. His faith has also influenced his political views, including his support for economic progressivism, protectionist policies, and military restraint.
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His reasons for converting
J.D. Vance, the vice president of the United States, converted to Catholicism five years before September 2024. His reasons for converting to Catholicism are detailed in a 2020 essay for the Catholic journal The Lamp, in which he wrote that he "needed grace" to provide him with the virtues to be a good husband and father. He also wrote that he felt "desperate for a worldview that understood our bad behavior as simultaneously social and individual, structural and moral; that recognized that we are products of our environment; that we have a responsibility to change that environment, but that we are still moral beings with individual duties".
Vance's conversion to Catholicism amounted to a political conversion as well. He has called himself a "'postliberal' Catholic" and has endorsed policies and tactics favored by adherents of the label, such as purging the administrative state and his rhetorical promotion of "pro-family" policy. His rise as a national figure has carried relatively obscure ideologies closer to political power, including what the AP called a "subset" of postliberalism, known as integralism.
Vance's exposure to Catholicism led him to appreciate its acceptance of both scriptural and traditional authority. He observed that Catholicism possessed a historical continuity with the Church Fathers and Christ Himself, which his unchurched religion of upbringing lacked. Additionally, he viewed Catholicism as the closest expression of Christanity obsessed with virtue and sympathetic to the meek and poor.
Vance's conversion was also influenced by his wife, who believed that the process of studying and thinking about Catholicism was "good" for him. He acknowledged that there was a part of him, the best part, that took its cues from Catholicism.
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His Catholic-inspired political approach
J.D. Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, converted to Catholicism five years ago, in 2019. He has described himself as a ""postliberal Catholic" and has endorsed policies such as purging the administrative state and his rhetorical promotion of "pro-family" policy.
Vance's Catholic-inspired political approach is a controversial one, breaking with conventional conservatism. It emphasizes communal good over individual liberty, harnessing state power to secure its aims. This approach is inspired by a Catholic intellectual movement that has been viewed by critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings.
Vance's conversion to Catholicism provided him with a new way of looking at the social ills he described in his 2016 bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy". He wrote in a 2020 essay:
> I felt desperate for a worldview that understood our bad behavior as simultaneously social and individual, structural and moral; that recognized that we are products of our environment; that we have a responsibility to change that environment, but that we are still moral beings with individual duties.
Vance's political goals are "explicitly anti-elitist, explicitly anti-regime", aiming to replace government bureaucrats with administrators committed to America's common good. This approach has been described as Catholic integralism, which imagines a future where the state may punish the baptized for violations of ecclesiastical law.
Vance's rise as a national figure has brought these relatively obscure ideologies closer to political power, and his election as vice president could shape federal policy in unprecedented ways, with a major impact on the political outlook of the American right, especially among Catholic conservatives.
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His association with Trumpism
In 2024, former US President Donald Trump selected Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice-presidential running mate. This came as a surprise to many, as Vance had been a vocal critic of Trump in the past.
Vance rose to fame through his 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," in which he describes growing up in poverty and details the issues faced by poor white communities in middle America. In interviews during the 2016 presidential election, Vance called Trump an "idiot" and "reprehensible," and compared him to Adolf Hitler. He also stated that he was a “never-Trump guy” and did not believe Trump was “offering many solutions” to the problems he identified.
However, by 2024, Vance's stance had changed significantly. He had become one of Trump's most ardent defenders and was selected as his running mate. During Trump's second presidential campaign, Vance defended Trump's actions leading up to and during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. He also criticized Vice President Mike Pence's handling of the 2020 election results certification and questioned whether Pence's life was truly endangered during the riots.
Vance's transformation from a self-described "never Trumper" to a loyal ally has been described as unusual, and some have questioned whether he is driven more by opportunism than ideology. However, Trump and his advisers see Vance's transformation as genuine, believing that Vance's political beliefs align with Trump's brand of populism.
As vice president-elect, Vance has continued to show his loyalty to Trump. In September 2025, he defended the Trump administration's decision to carry out a strike on a drug trafficking boat from Venezuela, killing 11 alleged terrorists. When questioned about the legal authority for the strike, Vance pointed to Trump's promise to stop the smuggling of drugs and terrorists into the country.
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His wife's influence on his conversion
J.D. Vance, who was baptized Catholic in August 2019, has spoken extensively about his conversion journey. In an essay he wrote about his conversion for the Easter 2020 issue of The Lamp, a Catholic magazine, he details the influence his wife, Usha, had on his decision to convert.
Vance writes that he felt hesitant about joining the Catholic Church because he wasn't Catholic when he married Usha, who is the daughter of immigrants from India and a Hindu. However, he emphasizes that she supported his decision: "But from the beginning, she supported my decision, so I can't blame the delay on her," he writes.
Vance's wife's encouragement played a crucial role in his conversion journey. In his essay, he acknowledges that the process of converting was "good for" him, a realization that he attributes to his wife's perspective. He writes, "My wife has said that the business of converting to Catholicism—studying and thinking about it—was 'good for you.' And I came, eventually, to see that she was right, at least in some cosmic sense."
Vance's journey towards Catholicism was gradual and involved a period of serious study and reflection. He writes about how he initially had misconceptions about Catholicism, believing that Catholics worshipped Mary and rejected the legitimacy of Scripture. However, through conversations with Catholic individuals and his own exploration, he began to see Catholicism in a new light.
Ultimately, Vance's conversion was a personal decision, but the support and perspective of his wife, Usha, helped shape his journey. Her encouragement and their shared exploration of Catholicism likely contributed to the strengthening of their bond.
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Frequently asked questions
J.D. Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019.
J.D. Vance was baptized as a Protestant and came from a long line of culturally Protestant Scots-Irish Americans from Appalachia.
J.D. Vance has described himself as a postliberal Catholic and has endorsed policies favored by adherents of this label, such as pro-family policies and purging the administrative state. He has also said that practicing his Catholic faith has helped him increase his patience, curb his temper, and choose his family over his career.
