13 Things to Know About J.D. Vance’s Catholic Journey

Republican vice-presidential nominee has grown in faith thanks to his grandmother, an admired uncle, Dominicans and his confirmation saint.

Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance is one of the most overtly religious major politicians in America.

Vance has written extensively about his life in faith, both in a mega-selling memoir and in a long essay that describes how a drug-using teenager with anger problems, family problems, school problems and doubts about God became an accomplished, successful family man excited about being a Catholic.

But nowadays, he’s also the most questioned of religious politicians, as pro-lifers ask if he’s still one of them.

Where did he come from in faith? And how did he get where he is now?

Vance, who comes from a long line of culturally Protestant Scots-Irish Americans from Appalachia, was baptized Catholic in August 2019.

Below are 13 items about his meandering journey to Rome and the aftermath, drawn largely from his 3-million-copy-selling 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy; and a 6,777-word essayhe wrote about his conversion for the Easter 2020 issue of The Lamp, a Catholic magazine.

Vance also talked about his conversion in an August 2019 interview with Rod Dreher published in The American Conservative.

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