CV NEWS FEED // At the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast Feb. 28, Vice President JD Vance led those present in a prayer for Pope Francis’ health and read excerpts from a homily the Holy Father gave in March 2020 about trusting Jesus when facing adversity.
Vance had noted the importance of respecting Church leaders, especially in the age of social media — a point he reflected on several times in the speech. The vice president noted that though Pope Francis has criticized some of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, this has not hindered the vice president’s ongoing prayers for him. Vance said that every day since learning of Pope Francis’ illness, he and his children have prayed for his health and comfort.
“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,” he said, “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 shared that the March 27, 2020, homily that Pope Francis gave continues to be extremely meaningful to him. Pope Francis gave the homily in an empty St. Peter’s Square as the world grappled with the outbreak of COVID-19.
The pontiff spoke about the Gospel passage (Mark 4:35-40) in which Jesus is sleeping on a boat during a great storm. His terrified disciples awaken Him, and Jesus calms the waters with ease, asking them why they were afraid: “Have you no faith?”
Vance quoted Pope Francis’ homily at length: “The tempest lays bare all our prepackaged ideas and forgetfulness of what nourishes our people’s souls; all those attempts that anesthetize us with ways of thinking and acting that supposedly ‘save’ us but instead prove incapable of putting us in touch with our roots and keeping alive the memory of those who have gone before us. We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to confront adversity.”
Vance said, “I think that is an amazing phrase: that what we do so often in our lives, and our public life and our private lives, is we deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to confront adversity.”
Vance continued that he “will always remember the Holy Father … as a great pastor, as a man who would speak the truth of the Faith in a very profound way at a great moment of crisis.”
The vice president then led those present in praying for the health and recovery of Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized for more than two weeks as he battles bronchitis and pneumonia.
After the prayer, Vance said he will strive to lead in such a way that is inspired by the words of the Pope.
“I’m not ever going to be perfect, I’m not ever going to get everything right, but [I will] 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 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.”