'Be careful...': Pope has a doctorate in theology, but JD Vance just told him he’s wrong about God
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Be careful...': Pope has a doctorate in theology, but JD Vance just told him he’s wrong about God")
Head of the Catholic Church Pope Leo XIV, 'Baby Catholic' US Vice President JD Vance Photograph: (Combination created using images from AFP)
US Vice President JD Vance has publicly challenged Pope Leo XIV on theology. As tensions rise between Donald Trump and the head of the Catholic Church, Vance invoked “just war theory” to counter the Pope’s criticism of the Iran conflict.
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US Vice President JD Vance used his Tuesday (Apr 14) appearance at a Turning Point USA event in Georgia to offer Pope Leo XIV some unsolicited guidance on Catholic theology, warning that the pontiff should "be careful" when commenting on matters of faith. Vance's statement comes amid a very public feud between US President Donald Trump and the Pope. Trump on Monday (Apr 13) posted a 334-word-long Truth Social post bashing the American pope, calling him "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy". He later added to the controversy by posting an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus, healing a sick man. The Pope, meanwhile, dismissed Trump's criticism, saying he had "no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel."
What did Vance say?
Speaking at a Turning Point event, Vance, who converted to Catholicism at the age of 35, lashed out at the Pope, saying: "If you're going to opine on matters of theology, you've got to make sure it's anchored in the truth."
The flashpoint was Leo's public criticism of the Trump administration's war on Iran. The Chicago-born pontiff recently wrote on X that God "does not bless any conflict" and that "anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs."
Vance pushed back by invoking just war theory, the centuries-old theological framework that holds that violence can, under specific conditions, be morally justified. He pointed to the Allied liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany as an example. "How can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?" he said. "There is a more than a thousand-year tradition of just war theory."
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Vance quotes theology theory at Pope with doctorate in theology
What Vance did not appear to account for is that Pope Leo XIV arguably has a more direct claim to that tradition than almost anyone alive. Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, holds a theology degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, the institution named after one of just war theory's principal architects. He also served for over a decade as Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine, the religious order founded in the name of the theologian who first developed the just war framework. He is the first Augustinian pope in history.
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