Vice President JD Vance will tell the story of his conversion to Catholicism in a new book.
Harper will publish Vance’s Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith in the spring, the press announced in a news release. It calls the book “an intimate account of why he strayed from the Christianity of his youth and what led him back to faith.”
Vance, an Ohio native, served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years and worked as a lawyer and venture capitalist before publishing his first book, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, in 2016. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book, which recounted Vance’s childhood in Appalachia, “an unusually timely and deeply affecting view of a social class whose health and economic problems are making headlines in this election year.” The book was adapted into a 2020 film that was directed by Ron Howard and starred Amy Adams and Glenn Close.
In 2022, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Ohio, and two years later Donald Trump made Vance his running mate in the presidential election. Trump and Vance defeated then–Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the election.
“To summarize this book: I’m a Christian, and I became a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings are true,” Vance said in a statement. “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.”
Communion is slated for publication on June 16.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
