Vice President JD Vance mentioned Tuesday throughout a Turning Point USA occasion that Pope Leo XIV wants “to be careful” when discussing “matters of theology.”
Vance mentioned of the pope, who’s embarking on an ongoing go to to 4 nations throughout Africa: “So No. 1, when the pope says that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword, there is … more than a 1,000-year tradition of ‘Just War Theory,’ OK? Now, we can of course have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just.”
He continued, “But I think that it’s important, in the same way that it’s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
Vance transformed to Catholicism in 2019 and was beforehand an Episcopalian.
His recommendation to the world’s foremost non secular chief got here after President Donald Trump on Sunday criticized Pope Leo and his requires peace amid the Iran warfare, and after he shared a picture deemed blasphemous by each Democrats and Republicans.
“I think one of the issues here is that if you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful,” Vance mentioned concerning the head of the Catholic Church. “You’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth. And that’s one of the things that I try to do.”
He added that the clergy, “whether they’re Catholic or Protestant,” ought to do the identical.
Vance appeared to ingratiate himself with MAGA voters after his 2022 Senate marketing campaign, when a personal Facebook message from 2016 got here to mild wherein he mentioned Trump might grow to be “America’s Hitler” and referred to as him “a cynical asshole.”
Vance’s conversion to Catholicism has resulted in equally awkward moments, because the church featured on the quilt of his upcoming e book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” isn’t really Catholic — however a United Methodist home of worship.
Trump obtained widespread criticism for his screed towards the pope, however doubled down with a synthetic intelligence-generated picture portraying him as a Christ-like determine.
Vance was additionally heckled over U.S. assist for Israel through the Turning Point occasion, whereas his remarks concerning the pope have led to brutal reactions on social media.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-vance-urges-pope-leo-xiv-be-careful-discussing-matters-of-theology_n_69df62ebe4b05c8319cdb774