The United States Vice President JD Vance, directed the attendees to the National Prayer Breakfast of 2025 in a prayer for the health of Pope Francis after talking about His own conversion to the Catholic faith and the objectives of the administration of President Donald Trump.
“Almighty and generous God, we thank you for your charity,” Vance said at the beginning of his prayer during his Friday speech at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington DC
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“Please grant your mercy to Pope Francis so he can recover from his illness and guide us in attentive care,” he continued. “We pray to bless the doctors, nurses and medical staff of our Holy Father with wisdom and capabilities so that you can work through them to renew the health of your pastor. By Christ Our Lord, Amen. ”
Prayer occurs at a time when the Pontiff has spent the last two weeks in the hospital in critical condition, although stable. The Pope suffers from pneumonia and other respiratory problems.
Vance, who is the second Catholic vice president, spoke about his admiration for Pope Francis, calling him “a great shepherd”, and cited extensively One of the homilies of the Pontiff March 2020, during the then emerging Covid-19 Pandemia.
The vice president recalled the homily saying: “I think we can all remember that moment of the Holy Father standing in an empty San Pedro square, holding the Eucharist about his head and giving a sermon that I constantly return because it was incredibly significant for me at that time and remains significant today.”
During the homily, the Pope remembered the passage of the fourth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, in which he tells how Jesus calmed the storm when he and his disciples were at sea. The Holy Father compared the storm described in the passage with the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
“Like the disciples of the Gospel, we were surprised by an unexpected and furious storm,” said Vance of the homily.
During his speech, Vance also recognized some disagreements that the Pope and the United States Catholic Bishop Conference have expressed about Trump administration immigration policies. He promised that the administration “will always listen to people of faith and people of conscience”, even when there are disagreements about policies.
“My goal here is not to litigate with (the Pope) or with any other member of the clergy about who is right and who does not,” he said. “Obviously, you know my views and I will talk about them constantly because I think I must do it because it serves the best interest of the American people.”
“I think that many conservative Catholics are too concerned with political criticism for a particular clergy member or the leader of the Catholic Church,” said the vice president. “And, of course, I am not telling you that you are wrong, because sometimes I even agree with you. I think what I would say is that it is not the best for any of us to treat religious leaders of our faith as if they were simply others influencers in social networks ”.
Vance added that he and his children pray for the Pope every day.
“I think the Pope is fundamentally a person who cares about the flock of Christians under his leadership,” Vance continued. “And he is a man who cares about the spiritual direction of faith.”
Vance talks about his conversion
The vice president also spoke about his conversion to Catholicism in 2019 and referred himself as a “baby Catholic” that is still new in faith, pointing out that “there are many things that I don’t know.”
“I try to be as humble as I can when I talk about faith in public because, of course, I will not always get right,” he said. “And I don’t want my deficiencies to describe our faith have an impact on faith itself.”
Vance asked people to recognize that when they talk about their faith, “it comes from a place of deep belief.” However, he said he also recognized that “I don’t always (I know) all the time.”
“What attracted me to the Christian faith and this Church in particular is the recognition that grace is not something that happens instantly,” added the vice president. “It is something that God works in us for a long period of time, sometimes many years and many decades.”
Vance said that grace is “a process” that “brings us closer to him and makes us better people in the process.” He said that the responsibility of the Sacrament of Reconciliation has helped him be more constant in his assistance to the weekly Mass.
“Although I am a Christian as imperfect as anyone in this Chamber, I really feel that God is transforming me every day, and that is one of the great blessings of our faith and one of the great blessings of following the sacraments as I try to do it,” said the vice president.
Vance also pointed out that he is married to one person from another religion. His wife, Usha Vance, is Hindu, but attends Mass with him and her children every week. He said he is raising his children in the Catholic faith, but that he has reached an agreement with his wife to not baptize the children until they decide to baptize themselves on their own.
The vice president said that his 7 -year -old son’s decision in November 2024 was one of his most “pride” moments as a father.
The Trump administration objectives
The vice president also said that the objective of the Trump administration is, ultimately, “promote the common good.”
“The true measure of health in a society is the safety, stability and health of our families and our people,” said Vance.
“Among the protection of the rights of providant protesters, between ensuring that we have the opportunity to protect the rights of not born in the first place and, more important Applause.
Vance added that Trump has “followed a path of peace” in foreign policy. He said that US “foreign misadventures” have been an impediment to religious freedom worldwide, but that Trump’s efforts “to bring peace” are aimed at “saving lives and fulfilling one of the most important commandments of Christ.”
In addition, the vice president referred to the efforts of the administration to achieve economic prosperity as a “means for an end”, being that end “the flowering, hopefully, of the life of each citizen.”
“We care about prosperity to promote the common good of all citizens of the United States of America,” said Vance.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Tyler Arnold
Tyler Arnold is a reporter of the National Catholic Register. He previously worked at The Center Square and has published in various media, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative and The Federalist.