Less than one month after he broke Vatican rules while touring the sacred city, U.S. Vice President JD Vance has once again landed in hot water – this time for acting like a “hillbilly” during his meeting with the newly elected Pope Leo XIV.

The day before JD Vance met with Pope Francis, the Ohio senator-turned-vice president spent the day with his family, touring Vatican City and its religious landmarks, including the historic Sistine Chapel.

Despite the Vatican Museum strictly forbidding photography “with any type of electronic equipment,” a photo of the VP holding his son under the Sistine Chapel’s canopy of priceless artwork by Michelangelo hit the internet, leaving people outraged.

And now, Vance’s growing saga of blunders continues with the newly appointed leader of the Roman Catholic Church – Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, who’s been called anti-Trump by MAGA supporters.

Clash with Trump administration

Prior to his papacy, the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV had openly criticized several Republican policies – especially regarding immigration and refugee treatment – positions that clash directly with the Trump administration.

In early 2025, Vance fueled the fire when he used Christianity to defend his position on mass deportation: “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that,” Vance told Fox.

Correcting the vice president, Pope Leo – then Cardinal Robert Prevost – shared a social media post saying Vance was “wrong” for suggesting God ranks love.

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