J.D. Vance Calls Pope Leo's Stance on Immigration 'Troubling' as Vice President Hopes Priest 'Learned' From Donald Trump's Policies

J.D. Vance explained why he's in disagreement with Pope Leo regarding the topic of immigration.

During the vice president's appearance on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle on Tuesday, June 30, he gave his thoughts on the Vatican's stance.

"I do think that some of ⁠the things that have come out of the Vatican on ​the immigration question in particular have been troubling, and ultimately I ​disagree with it," Vance, 41, said. "But I don't see Pope Leo as anti-capitalist."

“I actually like this interplay between the pope, between Christian clergy, and between the administration," Vance, 41 said.

"We don’t always have to agree on these issues, but I think the fact that we’re actually having the right conversations, that we’re pushing back when we disagree about how they’re applying a pragmatic principle of immigration policy, that’s a natural and reasonable thing to do," he continued.

Vance — who converted to Catholicism from Protestantism in 2019 — further noted he hopes Leo, 70, has "learned from some of the things that me, and Marco [Rubio] and President [Donald Trump] have said about immigration."

"It's not just about the dignity of the immigrant, it’s also about the dignity of the native-born people who have had their lives upended," the Hillbilly Elegy author stated.

Leo has slammed Trump, 80, and his administration's immigration policies in recent months, as well as the ongoing war crisis in Iran.

Last month, the American-born pontiff was asked about his thoughts on the White House's mass deportation plans.

"Often, we don’t recognize the reason why these people were forced to leave their home countries. For many reasons—violence, war, conflict,” Leo told reporters at his summer home in Rome.

“To simply say, ‘We’re going to send them away and wash our hands of the problem’ doesn’t seem like the most Christian response," he continued.

Vance and the Catholic community have quite the history, as he recently released a new memoir about his conversion, titled Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.

The politician infamously met with the late Pope Francis on Easter Sunday in 2025 just days before he passed away. He wrote in his book the meeting with Vatican officials was “unsettling,” and said the leaders were “overly diplomatic."

“Here I was, the most senior Catholic in the United States government, and the Vatican seemed unwilling to move its moral guidance past the point of trite platitudes,” he penned.