Vice President Vance says ‘soul-searching’ brought him to Catholic Church: ‘I felt at home’

The Catholic vice president said becoming a father led him to question his life’s direction and ultimately come into the faith.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said this week that he was drawn to the Catholic faith in part because of its centuries of tradition and because it “felt like home” to him amid his own faith journey.

The vice president told Fox News host Jesse Watters on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on June 8 that he attended Christian churches while growing up but that he “wasnʼt properly formed in my faith” and that he eventually fell away from Christianity.

“I had a lot of people who just did not, I think, properly support me in my own faith journey. And so I kind of just lost it,” he told Watters.

Vance said he experienced considerable career success as he grew older and became a lawyer. “I was professionally very successful. I was making a lot of money. Iʼd gone to all the right schools,” he said.

But “I realized that American elite culture was forming me to be kind of a bad person.”

When his wife, Usha, gave birth to their first baby, Vance said he began thinking about “how to be a good person, how to be virtuous, how to be a good and supportive husband, how to raise [their] son to be a good man himself.”

These questions led him to consider returning to the faith, he said; he ultimately converted to Catholicism in 2019.

“It felt like the world was changing so fast,” he said. “And what I loved about Catholicism is that you had this beautiful ancient Church, and you had all of these traditions that were very firmly rooted, some of which went back literally thousands of years. And I just really loved that sense of tradition.”

He admitted that itʼs “possible sometimes to think too much about this stuff” and that ultimately he joined the Catholic faith because “when I went to a Catholic church, I felt at home.”

“[A]fter a lot of soul searching, thatʼs just what felt like home to me,” he said.

Vance added he enjoys the “dynamism” that comes from the religiously pluralistic culture of the United States.

“Certainly it has been true for me that while I made my home in the Catholic Church, some of my best friends and some of the most influential people Iʼve met … have been Protestants. So I think thatʼs going to continue to be true,” he said.

Vanceʼs wife, Usha, is Hindu, which Vance said “brings a lot” to their marriage.

“Itʼs definitely dynamic to have a Hindu [mother], a Catholic father, two Catholic kids, and one 4-year-old girl who hasnʼt figured it out yet,” he said. “But I wouldnʼt take it any other way.”

Watters noted that he himself is Protestant but that his wife is “kind of trying to get me to convert to Catholicism.” He joked with Vance: “Iʼm not there yet. Maybe Iʼll get there one day.”

“Weʼll talk,” Vance replied with a laugh.

Vanceʼs upcoming book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” will be released on June 16. Vance said earlier this year that the book will explore the “story of how I regained my faith.”

“I’m a Christian, and I became a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings are true,” Vance said when the book was announced. “But I didn’t always think that, and by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others — Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise — who are seeking reconciliation with God.”