From The New York Times:
Vice President JD Vance, the country’s most powerful Roman Catholic politician, will publish a memoir about his conversion to the faith, his publisher, HarperCollins Publishers, announced on Tuesday.
The book, titled “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” will be released on June 16 and will detail Mr. Vance’s return to Christianity after leaving the loosely evangelical practice of his childhood and his eventual conversion to Catholicism.
“I’m a Christian, and I became a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings are true,” Mr. Vance said in a news release announcing the book. “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.”
The publisher framed the book as an exploration of how Mr. Vance’s faith guides his politics and also as a spiritual guide intended to draw others to the Catholic faith.
The announcement comes as many Republican strategists, officials and voters look to Mr. Vance as the early front-runner in the 2028 Republican primary race to succeed President Trump. While Mr. Vance has said “it feels so premature” to discuss the contest, he has been taking steps to demonstrate his support of the president’s MAGA base.
Mr. Vance’s faith has become a conspicuous part of his political biography, driving his views on issues like opposition to abortion rights and encouraging Americans to have more children. It has earned him early support from influential conservative Christian leaders.
His book is an effort to position Mr. Vance as a political leader — and potential next Republican presidential nominee — but also supports a larger effort by socially conservative leaders, activists and politicians to strengthen the power of conservative Christianity in American life.
Mr. Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 at age 35, after a bespoke, private instruction with Dominican Friars in Cincinnati. He was inspired by St. Augustine, the political theologian whom he chose as his patron saint, and whose treatise “City of God” challenged Rome’s ruling class in the fifth century.