Vice President JD Vance mixed prayer with diplomacy on a recent visit to Jerusalem, stepping through the Church of the Holy Sepulchre while advancing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace proposal. The trip also sharpened scrutiny of his public religiosity—from
When Vice President JD Vance walked into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. it wasn’t a quick photo-op kind of visit. He lowered himself to kneel on a crimson cushion. bowed his head. and raised his right hand to his forehead. chest and left shoulder before placing his palm on the red-hued slab of limestone.
For Christians, the Stone of the Anointing at the entrance of the church is where believers say Jesus’ body was prepared for burial after he was crucified. Vance, a convert to Catholicism who speaks openly about his faith, attended Mass and participated in private confession during the trip.
Starting the visit in public terms, Vance urged Christians to pray for the ceasefire effort. “I’d ask all people of faith, in particular, my fellow Christians, to pray that the Prince of Peace can continue to work a miracle in this region of the world,” he said.
That kind of direct religious framing is familiar to many Americans who follow Christian conservative politics—but it is still less common to hear from the highest levels of U.S. government in a contested international setting. The visit landed in a city that Israelis and Palestinians both claim as their capital.
The timing also mattered. Vance’s high-profile role in the administration’s push for a fragile Middle East peace. paired with President Donald Trump acknowledging a few days later that he is unable to seek a third term. brought new attention to the vice president and how his beliefs shape the way he communicates and leads.
His trip drew praise and criticism at the same time. Depending on who was watching, some described him as too close to Israel; others said he was too critical. The spotlight followed him into domestic debates as well. including renewed arguments about his family’s religious background after comments he made at a Turning Point USA student town hall.
At that event. when pressed on whether he wanted his wife. Usha—who is from a Hindu family—to become Christian. Vance said: “I believe in the Christian gospel. and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way. But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will. And so, that doesn’t cause a problem for me.”.
Accusations followed that he had disrespected his wife, an Indian American raised Hindu. The exchange came two weeks after a student at a town hall sparred with Republican candidate for Ohio governor Vivek Ramaswamy over his Hinduism in a widely shared video. After Vance pushed back at a commentator who accused him of throwing his wife’s religion under the bus to win support from white. Christian nationalists. the debate spilled outward.
Friends of Vance say higher office hasn’t weakened his religious commitment. Concerned Women for America President Penny Nance, an early backer of his U.S. Senate bid in 2021. pointed to her view that Vance’s faith has become more central in the aftermath of the death of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. who was shot dead in September.
Ralph Reed. a friend of Vance and founder and chairman of the conservative Faith & Freedom Coalition. described what he sees as a shift in how publicly confident Vance has become. “I think he’s becoming bolder and more confident in not only expressing his faith in a public context. but I think he’s also becoming more confident in connecting his faith to his aspirations for leadership and policy. ” Reed said.
Vance has described himself as a “baby Catholic” and said he began learning more about the religion he converted to in 2019 after Usha encouraged him to reengage with his faith. He grew up in a Christian household and later became an atheist before serving in the military. attending Yale Law School. writing a memoir. and running for office.
In an expansive discussion with The New York Times in May. while attending Pope Leo’s inaugural mass. Vance said church teachings informed his policy stances but he does not treat them as doctrine. That stance has at times created tension with Catholic leadership. Vance clashed with Pope Francis at the start of the administration over immigration enforcement.
Still, he has also praised moments of worship during his travels. In a recent episode of “Pod Force One. ” he said visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre “was probably the single most amazing experience of my life.” He took confession during the visit and worshiped at a private mass performed by Franciscan monks.
For Vance, the church was also symbolic beyond its spiritual significance. It was the only landmark he told reporters he hoped to see.
“As a Christian. ” Vance said ahead of the visit. “I think the world’s Christians will know that this country − that this region of the world − means a great deal to me.” Jacob Thomas. an Israeli-born American visiting family near Jerusalem. said seeing a religious Christian leader in the Old City “sets a certain tone across the world that America has a strong leader in the White House.”.
He was not the first. Vance visited along a path that has long appealed to presidents with religious identities: Trump and Joe Biden. Biden was the nation’s first Catholic vice president and second Catholic president. Trump considers himself a nondenominational Christian and became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Old City during his first term.
The diplomatic purpose of Vance’s trip came in the days surrounding Israel and Hamas alleged ceasefire violations that threatened to unravel President Trump’s “hard-won deal.” Vance’s visit followed a week after Trump declared the war in Gaza was over. as part of a succession of U.S. representatives traveling to Israel.
In Jerusalem, Vance’s comments also suggested he was trying to tie American influence to the practical mechanics of peace. As he departed Tel Aviv, he was cautiously optimistic about the prospects for an international security force to police Gaza.
One obstacle, however, is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aversion to Turkish troops being on the ground in Gaza. Vance said he pushed Netanyahu to help implement the president’s plan. telling journalists: “My message was just: do whatever you can to work with us to actually make this peace agreement stick. because it’s not going to be easy. These two sides. there’s a lot of hatred. they’ve been fighting a very brutal war over the last couple of years.”.
For some Americans meeting him only indirectly, the trip was still an opportunity to evaluate the vice president’s leadership. Paul Weintraub. a 71-year-old accountant from Woodmere. New York. and his wife Robyn. a 58-year-old physician. said they knew little about Vance beyond his bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” Paul Weintraub described the visit as a chance “to put him at the forefront to see what he can do and how he can be measured. by giving him something significant to try to accomplish. ” adding. “I don’t think he’s really had – not yet – a real forward role in a lot of things.”.
Whether Vance advanced the second phase of Trump’s peace proposal—disarmament of Hamas—was harder to read, with the administration working behind the scenes to bring countries on board ever since the plan’s outline became public.
The trip also offered a glimpse into how Vance might approach the world stage if he were to succeed Trump. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. standing alongside Vance a day prior. said he was impressed with the vice president’s “clarity” and “incisiveness.” But Vance’s carefully planned moments also created friction.
In his final moments on the tarmac, he faced friendly fire when he called an Israeli parliament vote to advance annexation of the West Bank “a very stupid political stunt.” He personally insulted Vance, he said, and the move was out of step with Trump.
Religious conservatives often view the territory as part of the Biblical promised land. Arab nations that Trump needs for the Gaza peace agreement, however, consider it part of a future Palestinian state.
After warnings from Trump and Vance against annexing the West Bank. Family Research Council president Tony Perkins. a top U.S. evangelical leader, criticized the administration in a social media post. “I’m praying for President Trump,” he wrote. “Telling Israel it cannot exercise sovereignty within its own borders to appease terror-supporting regimes like Turkey and Qatar is deeply troubling.”.
Vance later rejected unconditional American support for Israel a week after that tarmac moment at a Turning Point USA event in Mississippi, following a questioner’s critique of the U.S.-Israel alliance.
At that event, he turned to religion and to the interests of Christians to justify the close relationship. Recalling his visit to the Church of Holy Sepulchre, he said ensuring access to the site for Christians was a way America could work with its friends in Israel.
“There are some significant theological disagreements between Christians and Jews,” Vance added. “My attitude is let’s have those conversations, let’s have those disagreements when we have them. But if there are shared areas of interest, we ought to be willing to do that, too.”
The sequence is hard to miss: Vance’s on-the-ground visit to one of Christianity’s holiest locations is inseparable from the way he has positioned himself on Gaza, on Israel, and on the politics of faith that are already reaching for the next era inside the Republican movement.
JD Vance Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulchre Gaza peace proposal Trump Netanyahu Hamas Turkish troops Turning Point USA Usha Vance Catholic faith