Vice President Vance Experiences Memory Lapse Regarding Senior Vatican Official
During a press interaction on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance required a prompt from journalists after appearing to forget the name of a high-ranking Vatican figure. This individual, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, reportedly encountered hostility from U.S. military leadership earlier this year.
"Who?!" Vance inquired when a reporter mentioned Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who served as the Holy See's ambassador to the United States from 2016 until March of this year. The Vice President, who identifies as Catholic, stated, "With no disrespect to the cardinal, I don't know who Cardinal Christophe Pierre is."
Background on Reported Diplomatic Friction
The questioning stemmed from a recent report published by The Free Press, an outlet founded by Bari Weiss. The article detailed alleged tensions between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. According to unnamed Vatican sources cited in the report, Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for policy, summoned Cardinal Pierre to a private meeting in January.
During this encounter, Colby allegedly emphasized the U.S. military's global power, asserting it could do "whatever it wants in the world," and warned the Catholic Church to "better take its side." This meeting was reportedly convened in response to a speech by the pontiff earlier that month, where he criticized leaders who govern through "a diplomacy based on force" and exhibit a "zeal for war." The pontiff's remarks were documented on the Letters from Leo Substack page.
Consequences and Official Denials
The alleged meeting reportedly caused alarm among some Vatican officials and led to the cancellation of plans for the American-born pope to visit the United States on July 4 for the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations. However, a Pentagon spokesperson has denied these accounts, characterizing the meeting as a "respectful and reasonable discussion."
Shortly after the reporter clarified Cardinal Pierre's diplomatic role, Vance recalled, "Oh, OK, OK! I — I've met him before. Sorry, I just didn't remember the name." He further claimed he had never seen The Free Press's reporting on the meeting and expressed a desire to speak with the cardinal and administration officials to "figure out what actually happened."
Additional Context: Book Cover Controversy
This memory lapse incident occurred slightly over a week after reporters at The Bulwark noticed a United Methodist church in Virginia featured on the cover of Vice President Vance's upcoming book, titled "Communion." The book is intended to detail Vance's "personal journey" back to Catholicism, making the inclusion of a non-Catholic place of worship puzzling to its congregants. They noted the church has no connections to Vance or his Christian denomination.
A spokesperson for HarperCollins, the publisher, explained to USA Today that the image was selected because it "comes from the part of the country where Vance grew up." It is worth noting that Middletown, Ohio—where Vance was born and raised—is approximately a six-hour drive from the church's location, according to Google Maps. Jackson, Kentucky, where he spent summers with relatives, is nearly four hours away by car.
