The second Trump administration has been an eventful era for American Catholics, as tensions between the Vatican and the White House continued to make headlines over disagreements about the war in Iran throughout the month of April.
The squabbling came to a bit of a head earlier this month when, at a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event in Georgia, Vice President JD Vance (a Catholic) made a comment warning Pope Leo XIV that he should “be careful” talking about theology, also implying that the pope’s statements weren’t “anchored in the truth.”
“I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said, adding later, “If you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful, you’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth.”
This came after Vance previously said, “It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” in response to the pope’s X post denouncing the war in Iran and calling for peace.
At that same TPUSA event, Vance seemingly attempted to out-theology the foremost authority on Catholic theology — with an uncomfortable twist.
