National Catholic Reporter, the U.S.-based Catholic newspaper, continues to criticize Vice President JD Vance after comments he recently made against Catholic clergy on both CBS’s Face the Nation and Fox News.
When asked on Face the Nation about the US Conference of Catholic Bishops condemning President Trump’s order to send ICE agents into schools and churches, Vance — who converted to Catholicism in 2019 — said: “I think the US Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they received over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns or are they actually worried about their bottom line?”
Vance added: “Catholic bishops, frankly, have not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement,” and added that, as a Catholic, he hopes, “that they’ll do better.”
[NOTE: Catholic bishops also strongly objected to the freeze on aid the Trump administration proposed, and they are — as recipients last year of $476 million from USAID — perhaps in this instance too susceptible to the same “bottom line” accusation Vance levels at them above.]
On Fox News with fellow Catholic Maria Bartiromo, Vance said: “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that.”
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? https://t.co/IG0P31Vxfz
— NCR (@NCRonline) February 3, 2025
NCR responded with the article, ‘JD Vance Is Wrong: Jesus Doesn’t Ask Us To Rank Our Love for Others,’ and amplified it on X with the message: “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 publication objected to Vance’s suggestion that it’s more Christian to prioritize your family over a stranger and wrote: “Jesus wanted us to demolish the categories that keep us from seeing each other as worthy of love in the first place.”
[NOTE: Trump-Vance benefitted from the Catholic vote in 2024: “Trump captured 54% of Catholic voters compared to 44% for Vice President Kamala Harris — an increase over 2020 that was notable in North Carolina, Florida and Texas,” reported VoteCast.]
On Tuesday, NCR published another article aimed at the Vice President: ‘How the US Bishops’ Refugee Program, Now a JD Vance Target, Resettled a Family.’
NCR wrote: “Vice President JD Vance attacked the bishops for this resettlement program. Here’s a success story: Leela Kuikel went from South Asian refugee to CEO of several U.S. companies.”
Vice President JD Vance attacked the bishops for this resettlement program. Here’s a success story: Leela Kuikel went from South Asian refugee to CEO of several U.S. companies. https://t.co/4wMjuKBB2c
— NCR (@NCRonline) February 4, 2025
Note: While Catholic Bishops disagree with the new administration on immigration policies and aid retrenchment, they do agree with Trump and Vance on many other issues including abortion and a prohibition on transgender surgeries for children.
As seen below, Bishop Barron wrote that he welcomed Trump’s executive order “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”
In response to the executive order “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” I gave the following statement as chairman of the @USCCB’s Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth: pic.twitter.com/HkrnmmqUke
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) January 30, 2025