Priest nails Trump's Catholic VP's 'shortcomings'

As President Donald Trump struggles to bring an end to the war he started with Iran, his administration has become increasingly bogged down in another conflict with the Vatican.

On Sunday, Trump shocked the world by initiating a bizarre beef with Pope Leo XIV over the latter’s criticisms of the war, and after pushback from the Holy See and other Catholics, Vice President JD Vance waded into the fray, warning the Pontiff to “be careful” when talking about “matters of theology.” This prompted many from the Church to tell Vance — who only recently converted to Catholicism — to reconsider.

Internationally respected priest Michel Viot, of France is known for commenting on politics, and delivered harsh words for the Vice President.

“As a Catholic priest,” posted Viot on Wednesday, “it is my duty to tell Vice President Vance, whose shortcomings I know well, that he has no right as a Catholic to order the Pope to be silent, nor to invoke questions of morality with unpleasant undertones. As vice president, he can of course invoke the notion of a just war without it being necessary to cast aspersions on the morality of the Church.”

Far-right commentator and Catholic Nick Fuentes had even stronger language for Vance, posting, “JD Vance publishes his bulls—— book about his conversion to Catholicism and then a week later is forced by Trump to defend his blasphemy against Christ and attack the Pope and Catholic Church. In case you needed more evidence that he is a sociopath who believes in nothing.”

Even the VP’s fellow Republicans are advising him against tangling with the papistry. When Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) was asked if he agreed with Vance’s sentiments regarding the Pope and theology, the Senator mused, “Isn’t that his job? I’d stay focused on… the economic issues, pocketbook issues that most Americans care about. And let the church be the church.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine issued a formal statement defending the Pope’s opposition to the war, asserting that “a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed,'" — a direct reference to Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2308.

"This," writes papal commentator Christopher Hale, “is a serious escalation as the institutional Catholic Church is coming together to defend its pontiff from the White House’s political attack.”

At the time of this writing, a fresh post to the Pope’s Twitter account declared, “Let us reject the logic of violence and war, and embrace peace founded on love and justice — an unarmed peace, not based on fear, threats or weapons.”