NEW YORK – In response to Pope Francis’s criticisms of Trump administration immigration policies, Vice President JD Vance, while not backing off of his hardline immigration stance, was conciliatory, commending the Holy Father for his care of the flock, and praying for his health and recovery.

“Every day since I heard of Pope Francis’s illness I say a prayer for the Holy Father because while yes, I was certainly surprised when he criticized our immigration policy in the way that he has, I also know that the pope, I believe that the pope, is fundamentally a person who cares about the flock of Christians under his leadership, and he’s a man who cares about the spiritual direction of the faith,” Vance said.

Vance, a Catholic, made the comments on Feb. 28 at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

The vice president spoke for just under a half-an-hour, highlighting why President Donald Trump is an “incredibly good president for Catholics” and why former-President Joe Biden was not. He also said why he thinks it’s important for the faithful on both sides of the aisle to not treat Catholic leaders “as just another social media influencer,” and vice versa; and also asked for grace as he continues to learn the faith as a convert.

On Pope Francis, Vance took a clear conciliatory approach, emphasizing that his goal at the breakfast was not to “litigate with him or any other clergy member about who’s right and who’s wrong.” He even expressed a sort of reverence for the Holy Father, referencing in particular a homily Pope Francis gave in an empty St. Peter’s Square at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and how it was meaningful to him at the time and remains meaningful to him today.

“That is how I will always remember the Holy Father, as a great pastor, as a man who can speak truth to faith in a very profound way at a moment of great crisis,” Vance said, before leading a prayer for Pope Francis’s health and recovery, and then concluding with more well wishes and a nod to the “turbulent storm,” and “antibodies we need to confront adversity” aspects of that 2020 homily.

“I’m not ever going to be perfect. I’m not ever going to get everything right, but what I will try to do is to try to be the kind of leader who helps our shared civilization build those true antibodies against adversity,” Vance concluded. “And if the Holy Father can hear us, I hope that he knows that there are thousands of faithful Catholics in this room and millions of faithful Catholics in this country who are praying for him as he weathers his particular storm.”

Earlier in his remarks, Vance also acknowledged that the U.S. bishops have taken issue with some of his remarks. He took a conciliatory approach to them as well, asking Catholics to remind themselves that the clergy are important spiritual leaders in society.

“I think that we should, frankly, take a page out of the books of our grandparents who respected our clergy, who looked to them for guidance, but didn’t obsess and fight over every single word that came out of their mouth and entered social media. I don’t think that’s good,” Vance said.

“I don’t think it’s good for us as Christians to constantly fight with one another over every single controversy in the Church,” he said.

“Sometimes we should let this stuff play out a little bit and try to live our faith as best we can under the dictates of our faith, and under the dictates of our spiritual leaders, but not hold them to the standards of social media influencers, because they’re not,” he added.

To open his remarks, Vance touted “a new page in Washington, D.C.”

The vice president acknowledged that Catholics aren’t always going to agree with everything done by the Trump administration, but said between the administration’s commitment to the abortion aspect of the pro-life cause, and to protect religious liberty globally, “President Trump, though not Catholic himself, has been an incredibly good president for Catholics in the United States of America.”

At one point, Vance also gave some insight into how his Catholic faith factors into his vision for the country, citing that through the faith he realizes that “the deepest and most important things are not material.” He noted, for example, that if the stock market is moving in the right direction, but life expectancy is lowering, then the country has to do a better job.

“Catholicism, Christianity, at its root, I think teaches our public officials to care about the deep things, the important things, the protection of the unborn, the flourishing of our children, and the health and sanctity of our marriages,” Vance said. “And yes we care about prosperity, but we care about prosperity so that we can promote the common good of every citizen in the United States of America.”

Follow John Lavenburg on X: @johnlavenburg