Why Two Popes Told JD Vance He Was Wrong on Christianity 101

JD Vance’s attempt at a theological gotcha became a teachable moment for the nation. He told America to look up ordo amoris; Pope Francis and Pope Leo delivered the results.

Dear friends —

Happy Halloween! Tonight’s essay is the second in our new series exploring the religious and political odyssey of Vice President JD Vance — a journey that continues to shape the soul of the American right.

In Wednesday’s installment, we laid out the broad arc: how Vance’s 2019 entry into the Catholic Church marked a turning point in his transformation from Trump skeptic to MAGA ideologue.

Today, we zoom in on the most revealing moment yet — when Vance told Americans to “Google ordo amoris” to defend the administration’s hardline immigration policy.

It didn’t go well.

In this piece, we unpack how Vance misrepresented St. Augustine, why both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV publicly corrected him, and what it tells us about the dangerous rise of Google theology in American public life.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll go deeper: into the conservative Dominican priests who shaped his formation, the Catholic donor networks fueling his ascent, and the ongoing clash between Vance’s White House and the Church he claims to serve.

As always, these essays take time and care to produce, so full access is reserved for paid subscribers. If you haven’t yet joined us, I hope you will. Your support keeps this work alive — and independent.

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Thank you for reading. I’ll see you on the road.

It’s not every day a U.S. politician gives the public a Latin homework assignment. Yet back in January, JD Vance confidently advised everyone to “just google ordo amoris.”

The Ohio Republican-turned-vice president had gone on TV to defend the administration’s hardline immigration crackdown. In doing so, he invoked what he called an “old school… Christian concept” — later clarifying online that he meant ordo amoris, the “order of love.”

Vance’s lesson in Latin sounded straightforward: We should love in concentric circles, starting with our family and fellow citizens, and only then worry about outsiders.

In his telling, Democrats and bishops who objected to mass deportations had inverted that sacred order of priorities. It was a convenient bit of Google theology to justify putting Americans first and migrants last.

The only problem? That’s not what the Church actually teaches — and two popes (not to mention a 4th-century saint) were quick to correct him.

An African Saint’s Wisdom, Twisted

The term ordo amoris comes from St. Augustine of Hippo, the 4th-century bishop from North Africa who taught about rightly ordered love.