Vice President JD Vance recently sat down with the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss what he thinks of the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV. Hewitt, who is also Catholic like the Vice President, asked Vance what his initial thoughts were following the election process. Vance responded stated he had been on the “edge of [his] seat” during the process, particularly once the white smoke was blown from the Vatican, signaling the election of a new Pope. “First of all, a big moment, of course, for American Catholics, and I think the American people, writ large,” he said. “So many people my entire lifetime has said you’re never going to have an American pope. Obviously, now we do, so I think that’s a great thing.” Vance also stressed that he wished the new Pope “the best.” “He’s now the head of the Catholic Church, and we’ll pray for his wisdom, for his good decisions, and his good health, and hope that he has a long and successful papacy,” he said.

Vice President Vance then addressed some of the politicization that has accompanied Pope Leo XIV’s election. Within moments of his election, social media was abuzz with videos some of the Pope’s social media posts when he was Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. “You know, these things always get discolored a little bit by American politics or by politics writ large,” said Vance. “You know, people are asking is he a conservative or is he a liberal. Will he attack President Trump and J.D. Vance on certain things, and hasn’t attacked Democrats on other things,” said Vance. “And I guess my response to this is it’s very hard to fit a 2,000-year-old institution into the politics of 2025 America. I try not to do that.” Vance noted that he is a convert to Catholicism, having converted in 2019, which he believed might give him a different perspective than those who grew up in the faith.  “But I try not to play the politicization of the Pope game,” he said. “I’m sure he’s going to say a lot of things that I love. I’m sure he’ll say some things that I disagree with, but I’ll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all, and that’ll be the way that I handle it.”

Hewett agreed, noting how the American media asked multiple questions about President Trump during a press conference about the new Pope. “The American media never fails to fail to understand the Catholic Church,” he said. Vance agreed, saying, “the Church is so much bigger than politics.” He stated that most Americans probably aren’t concerned about whether the Pope is a Democrat or Republican. “And my attitude is, you know, the Church is about saving souls, and about spreading the Gospel. And yeah, it’s going to touch public policy from time to time as all human institutions do, but that’s not really what it’s about,” he said. “And I think it’s much healthier for the American media, and certainly for Catholics, to not take such a, you know, politics in the age of social media attitude towards the papacy.”