JD Vance announces Catholic memoir 'Communion' for June
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- JD Vance announced his memoir 'Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,' set for 16 June publication by HarperCollins, described as 'a spiritual exploration of what it means to be a Christian across the seasons of Vance's life.'
- Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 at age 35 after being raised in a loosely evangelical family, and says the book is an account of rediscovering religion.
- Vance's Catholic faith has shaped his political positions on abortion and family policy, and he has used the concept of ordo amoris — 'order of love' — to defend prioritizing obligations to fellow citizens over outsiders.
- Vance's interpretation of ordo amoris drew sharp Vatican criticism: an X account apparently belonging to the current Pope (then a cardinal) shared posts opposing the White House's deportation plans, and the late Pope Francis argued in a letter that the true ordo amoris is fraternity 'open to all, without exception.'
- Communion follows Vance's 2016 bestseller Hillbilly Elegy, which spent more than 200 weeks on the New York Times list, sold over five million copies worldwide, and was adapted into a Ron Howard film starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.
- Vance is increasingly viewed as an early frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination; on the Democratic side, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, and Josh Shapiro have also recently released or announced books.
Why it matters: Vance is publishing a faith-centered memoir as he consolidates his standing as an early 2028 frontrunner, following the well-worn political path of using a book rollout to define personal narrative ahead of a presidential run. The timing also highlights a live tension with the Vatican — now led by Pope Leo XIV, who publicly broke with Vance's *ordo amoris* framing — putting his Catholic identity at the center of both his brand and a foreign-policy fight over deportation policy.
