Vance’s new book puts his Catholic faith at the center of his story — and his political future

(CNN) — When JD Vance published his best-selling book “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2016, he had drifted away from the Christian faith of his childhood — a familiar story amid a broader national retreat from organized religion that had left church pews emptier than in previous decades.

Now, Vance as vice president — and likely 2028 presidential contender — is a practicing Catholic, a conversion he has chronicled in his second book, “Communion,” publishing Tuesday. And it’s landing on bookshelves amid a remarkable turnaround: Catholicism is, by some measures, experiencing a resurgence in the United States unlike anything in recent memory.

An American-born pope presides over the Vatican the first time in the church’s history. While Catholicism still faces long-term demographic struggles, conversions are surging, with some dioceses reporting record highs. Accounts of Gen Z converts filling church pews have injected new energy into the 2,000-year-old religion and have surprised even Catholic leaders who had long braced for continued decline.

The revival has found particular resonance on the political right. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon; right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec; anti-diversity, equity and inclusion activist Christopher Rufo; and podcasters Michael Knowles and Matthew Walsh are among the prominent conservatives who have embraced their Catholic faith — a faction of the new right building a political and spiritual identity distinct from the evangelical Protestantism that has long dominated Republican politics.

“Communion,” a copy of which was obtained by CNN, is Vance’s entry into that growing canon. In it, Vance connects his faith to his political transformation — from Donald Trump skeptic to Trump’s vice president — and to his views on the prevailing social and economic debates. Through this lens, Vance argues for prioritizing families over gross domestic product, limiting migration, rejecting universal basic income, and discouraging abortions by improving conditions for new mothers and young children.

“My political evolution was downstream of the much more fundamental change in how I saw the world,” he writes. “I had looked inside our elite institutions and found them intellectually and spiritually broken. Was it any surprise that I would eventually reject their politics as well?”

Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation — the influential conservative think tank behind much of Trump’s second-term agenda — said having the most powerful elected Catholic in the country speak openly about his faith should embolden more officials to do the same.

“We live in a time that for some Americans, it’s not only unfashionable but unacceptable that many of us talk about faith in public,” said Roberts, himself a Catholic. “It’s rather remarkable because so many leaders are uncomfortable doing that for whatever reason. It’s a very positive move, not just for him and the conservative movement but for the country because what people are looking for is transparency and authenticity from their leaders.”

The rare vice presidential author

The book also arrives as questions about Vance’s political future are increasingly difficult to ignore. Sitting vice presidents almost never publish books while in office — and the last one who did, George H.W. Bush, went on run for president, noted Joel Goldstein, a constitutional law professor at Saint Louis University and one of the country’s foremost experts on the vice presidency.

But Vance faces an unusual bind: He must serve loyally as Trump’s No. 2 while establishing himself as the future of the party on a compressed timeline. Trump is constitutionally barred from a third term but has shown little interest in anointing a successor — and has at times privately floated Secretary of State Marco Rubio as an alternative.

A book about faith, Goldstein argued, allows Vance to step out from Trump’s shadow without risking divisions with the man he still serves.

“To the extent one of the challenges of running for president is being perceived as a No. 1 when you have been acting as a No 2, this gives him a stage where he’s seemingly independent,” he said.

Those close to Vance deny the book is meant to stir more speculation about his presidential ambitions. One ally of the vice president’s told CNN that Vance cleared the book by White House leadership before moving forward and that the reception from Trump’s inner circle was positive. Neither the White House nor Vance’s office responded to requests for comment.

Vance has downplayed the timing, too, saying he began working on the book not long after he finished his first memoir. A 2024 financial disclosure form from his time in the Senate shows Vance had a deal with HarperCollins to write a second book in 2017 (his office didn’t say why previous disclosures did not note this agreement). In 2020, he published 6,700 words in The Lamp, a Catholic magazine, on his transformation from lapsed Christian to atheist to his baptism. He has also credited the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk for inspiring him to speak out more about his faith.

While “Communion” looks ahead to life after death, there’s little trace of the near-term decision looming over Vance in the text’s 288 pages. Nor is there much account of his experience as vice president, operating inside Trump’s White House.

Rather, in explaining the purpose of the book, Vance writes: “I’m a Christian, and I became a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings are true. But I didn’t always think that, and by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others—Catholic, protestant, or otherwise—who are seeking reconciliation with God.”

A publicity blitz to support the book is already underway, with stops on Fox News, “CBS Sunday Morning” and “The View,” a regular testing ground for White House hopefuls. The book will also sell in stores alongside published works from aspiring Democratic politicians such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Vance also has competition in his choice of topic. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has spoken often about his Jewish faith while promoting his own book. Another entry, from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear — also a Democrat and potential 2028 contender — is expected later this year. Like Vance, his book, “Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country,” will center on his Christian beliefs.

Terry Schilling, the founder of American Principles Project, a socially conservative advocacy group that has urged Republican leaders to lean into culture wars, is already enthusiastic about the prospect of Vance succeeding Trump. Schilling, also a Catholic, said he anticipates Vance’s new book will allow him to lay out the commonalities between himself and evangelical Republicans, who remain an influential voting bloc in GOP politics.

It’s a much different approach from the one famously taken by John F. Kennedy when he confronted questions about his Catholic faith during his 1960 presidential campaign. Kennedy declared in an address to Protestant ministers that “the separation of church and state is absolute” and that his decisions as president would not be influenced by the church. The second Catholic president, Joe Biden, was more open about his faith but navigated other tensions with his religion, especially over his views on abortion.

“Rather than doing the JFK thing and saying, ‘I’m not going to be a Catholic president,’ he’s saying, ‘If I’m elected president, here is how my Catholic faith will inform my presidency,’” Schilling said.

Polling shows that Catholics are moving in the direction of those who identify as evangelicals by becoming more conservative. Trump won 59% of Catholics in 2024, according to CNN exit polls, higher than any Republican presidential nominee since at least 1972. New converts and recently ordained priests and nuns also appear to be considerably more conservative than those born into the religion and older clergy, said Ryan Burge, a political scientist at the Washington University Center on Religion and Politics.

“It’s an institution that’s becoming increasingly conservative, increasingly Republican, and Vance embodies where the church is headed,” Burge said.

Tensions with the Vatican

This new wave of conservative Catholics has grown increasingly skeptical of the political movements by the Vatican, first under Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV. There has been friction at times, too, between Trump’s White House and the Catholic leaders, particularly over immigration. Trump has referred to Pope Leo as “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy,” sparking the pontiff to respond that he had “no fear of the Trump administration.”

Amid the back-and-forth, Vance advised the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality.”

In 2025, Vance also drew scrutiny from some church leaders when he cited a medieval Catholic theology known as “ordo amoris” in justifying Trump’s immigration crackdown. Vance explained the doctrine as: “You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.” Pope Francis later pushed back against Vance’s interpretation in a letter to US bishops.

More recently, Vance responded positively to Pope Leo’s warnings about the risk of artificial intelligence to humanity.

The tension between Washington and the Vatican underscores the growing awareness around the Catholic Church’s importance in American politics. Kelsey Reinhardt, the president of Catholic Votes, an organization that mobilizes voters of the faith, said her group’s political arm is already planning how to wield the religion’s growing influence in 2028, when there could be a slate of Catholic presidential contenders.

In addition to Vance, Rubio is also Catholic, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was raised in the faith as well. On the Democratic side, Newsom and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez identify as Catholic, and so does Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose political ambitions remain an open secret.

“If Catholics aren’t at the table, they’re on the menu,” Reinhardt said. “People are waking up to the realization that the Catholic vote is determinative of this nation.”

But the renewed interest in Catholicism masks broader trends that show the religion is losing ground in America, Burge said. The uptick in converts, he noted, is more than recent years but still historically low and just a small fraction of Americans, about 1.5%. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church is baptizing about 500,000 babies a year — down from 1.3 million in the 1960s — and far more people are leaving than joining, Burge said.

The reality, Burge said, is that Vance’s book — and his political future — are confronting a faith still in decline.

“Catholicism is having a moment. There’s no way to deny that,” Burge said. “The vibes are up. But the macro level trends are down.”

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CNN’s Alayna Treene contributed to this report.