Vice President J.D. Vance, referring to himself as a "baby Catholic" who converted to the faith as an adult, said in remarks at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Friday that he recognizes that not everyone would agree with the moves being made by the Trump administration, but insisted that the rights of the faithful are being protected.
"I feel very confident in saying that between protecting the rights of pro-life protesters, between ensuring that we have an opportunity to protect the rights of the unborn [in] the first place and, importantly, protecting the religious liberty of all people, but in particular Catholics, I think that we can say that President [Donald] Trump, though not a Catholic himself, has been an incredibly good president for Catholics in the United States of America," Vance said.
Vance's remarks aired live on Newsmax and Newsmax 2.
Vance also said that Trump has gone in the "exact opposite direction" from the Biden administration.
"The last administration liked to throw people in jail for silently praying outside of pro-life clinics," Vance said. "We know that the last administration wanted to protect taxpayer-funded abortion right up until the moment of birth on every single one of those issues."
Vance also said Trump has "pursued a path of peace."
"We know that some of the biggest groups that are persecuted all over the world today are Christians, and the Trump administration promises you that whether it's here at home, with our own citizens or all over the world, we will be the biggest defenders of religious liberty and the rights of conscience," said Vance. "I think those policies will fall to the benefit of Catholics, in particular, all over the world."
Vance acknowledged being "ashamed" that U.S. "foreign misadventures" have sometimes led to the eradication of historical Christian communities all over the world.
So when Trump talks about peace in Russia and Ukraine or the Middle East, "we also must recognize it as an effort to protect the religious liberty of Christians," said Vance.
"Perhaps the most important way in which Donald Trump has been a defender of Christian rights all over the world is he has a foreign policy that is oriented towards peace," he added.
Vance said there are still matters about the faith that he does not know, and he admitted he won't always get matters right.
"If you ever hear me pontificating about the Catholic faith, please recognize it comes from a place of deep belief, but it also comes from a place of not always knowing everything all the time," he said.
Vance also acknowledged Pope Francis' criticism about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, but not the pontiff's criticism of Vance's interpretation of Catholic traditions to justify the administration's policies.
Vance said that he and his family have been praying for the ailing pope, who has been in the hospital for two weeks with pneumonia and other health issues, and led the gathering in a prayer for the pope's health.
Vance also credited the pope for caring about the Christians under his leadership.
Earlier this month, before his hospitalization, Pope Francis rebuked the Trump administration's mass deportation plan, saying that doing so would take away the migrants' inherent dignity.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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