{"id":1374,"date":"2026-07-17T06:06:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2026-07-17T06:06:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:06:52","slug":"exclusive-jd-vance-tells-bishop-barron-whats-gone-wrong-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Tells Bishop Barron What\u2019s Gone Wrong In America"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Vice President JD Vance sat down with prominent Catholic theologian Bishop Robert Barron this week to discuss his new book, \u201cCommunion: Finding My Way Back.\u201d The conversation ranged far beyond typical book tour talking points, touching on Vatican diplomacy, artificial intelligence, faith, and family life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Disgraced Ex-CNN Anchor Eyes Presidential Run<\/a><\/p>\n

The most candid moment of the discussion came when Vance reflected on a Vatican meeting that followed his conversation with Pope Francis shortly before the pope\u2019s death. As he did previously, Vance reiterated that the discussion never moved beyond surface-level diplomatic language.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt just felt like [Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher] didn\u2019t want to move past the diplomatic platitudes,\u201d Vance told Barron. He recalled Vatican officials telling him the Church \u201cwould really prefer that you show more respect for the dignity of the migrant,\u201d but argued that was something everyone already believed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an impulse within the church that is very comfortable in dealing with the highest level of generality because then it\u2019s not challenging to anybody,\u201d Vance said, adding that he believes \u201cthe current hierarchy is way too uncomfortable dealing with anything other than abstraction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Vance said he hopes that changes under Pope Leo XIV, whom he described as \u201ca brilliant guy\u201d and \u201cclearly a very holy man.\u201d He acknowledged the pope would likely criticize some Trump administration policies but said he welcomed the dialogue and didn\u2019t believe the Church and the administration had to agree on everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think again there is this demand that you treat people with dignity\u2026 There\u2019s also an acceptance, maybe even endorsement, of the fact that nations are allowed to control their borders,\u201d Vance said. \u201cHow do you balance these things when controlling your borders inevitably leads to law enforcement operations that sometimes can create issues? That\u2019s the balance that we fundamentally have to strike.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Much of \u201cCommunion\u201d deals with Vance\u2019s admission that he spent his younger years \u201cworshipping success\u201d while attending Yale Law School.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe social currency is credential,\u201d Vance told Barron. \u201cPeople don\u2019t care about what you\u2019ve achieved. They don\u2019t care about what you\u2019re going to achieve. They don\u2019t care about your family.\u201d He contrasted that with the community he grew up in, where \u201cthe thing that people were most interested in you is how are your kids doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd yet at Yale it was who is going to get ahead in this game of life. And I found that very unsatisfying,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vance made the distinction between being ambitious and what he now sees as the disordered pursuit of success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s the ambition to do something amazing or to do something transformative or to help a lot of people or to build a beautiful building,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a separate kind of ambition\u2026 which is like the desire to just get ahead for its own sake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron and Vance spent a significant portion of the conversation discussing French philosopher Ren\u00e9 Girard and his theory of mimetic desire, the idea that people desire things because others desire them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you see it\u2026 it\u2019s very hard to unsee it,\u201d Vance said, describing how it happens at home with his kids. \u201cMy 9-year-old will pick up a toy that none of the kids have played with in six months. And instantly, all of them want that toy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Vance argued that social media makes mimetic desire spread faster.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it sets that desire aflame and makes it spread so rapidly, it also makes the conflict side of it spread so rapidly,\u201d he said, recalling watching friends on Facebook \u201cget into arguments on the internet\u201d and thinking, \u201cthese are two really lovely human beings that are calling each other these terrible names.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Eight Dems, Including A Logger And Transgender Songwriter, Face Off In Maine Senate Debate<\/a><\/p>\n

The two also discussed Pope Leo XIII\u2019s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, a foundational document of Catholic social teaching. Vance said the document was impressive for trying to strike a balance between two extremes rather than picking a side.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very worried that if we don\u2019t strike the right balance between human dignity and prosperity, between workers and capital owners, that it\u2019s going to inevitably lead to this conflict,\u201d Vance said of Leo XIII. He argued the encyclical rejects both the Marxist assumption that class conflict is inevitable and the libertarian belief that there is no conflict. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be a real compromise,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vance argued that same philosophy also separates President Donald Trump\u2019s economic approach from the Reagan era. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat President Trump has brought is a recognition\u2026 that there is a national and community element to economics,\u201d Vance said, pointing to shortages of masks and hospital gowns during the COVID pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vance described his grandparents as \u201cclassic blue dog Democrats\u201d and said the biggest difference between their beliefs and today\u2019s Democratic Party is the absence of religion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do think that religion itself has become very disfavored among Democratic elites,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later in the interview, Vance described a backstage conversation at a Turning Point USA event in which a young woman told him she and her friends were using ChatGPT to help respond to boys\u2019 text messages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI realized that the technology that actually brings man and woman together successfully is the church,\u201d Vance said. \u201cYou have young people who are using ChatGPT and they don\u2019t want to.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

He said the rise of AI presents an opportunity for churches to step in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron also asked Vance about his prayer life. The vice president admitted that praying consistently with young children at home can be difficult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProbably 80% of the time I fail on that,\u201d Vance said. \u201cEither because bedtime is too chaotic or because I\u2019m at the White House.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

He said part of his return to Christianity involved relearning how to pray after years as an atheist. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like when I was 17 and I would get on my knees and clasp my hands together, I would know what to say. When I was 28, I didn\u2019t know what to say anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be perfect at it,\u201d he said of praying. \u201cTry to just do as much as you can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s Speech Sends Beijing, And China-Watchers, Into A Frenzy<\/a><\/p>\n

Vance\u2019s book, \u201cCommunion: Finding My Way Back,\u201d is on sale now.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vice President JD Vance sat down with prominent Catholic theologian Bishop Robert Barron this week to discuss his new book, \u201cCommunion: Finding My Way Back.\u201d The conversation ranged far beyond typical book tour talking points, touching on Vatican diplomacy, artificial intelligence, faith, and family life.\u00a0The most candid moment of the discussion came when Vance reflected on a Vatican meeting that followed his conversation with Pope Francis shortly before the pope\u2019s death. As he did previously, Vance reiterated that the discussion never moved beyond surface-level diplomatic language.\u201cIt just felt like [Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher] didn\u2019t want to move past the diplomatic platitudes,\u201d Vance told Barron. He recalled Vatican officials telling him the Church \u201cwould really prefer that you show more respect for the dignity of the migrant,\u201d but argued that was something everyone already believed.\u201cThere is an impulse within the church that is very comfortable in dealing with the highest level of generality because then it\u2019s not challenging to anybody,\u201d Vance said, adding that he believes \u201cthe current hierarchy is way too uncomfortable dealing with anything other than abstraction.\u201dVance said he hopes that changes under Pope Leo XIV, whom he described as \u201ca brilliant guy\u201d and \u201cclearly a very holy man.\u201d He acknowledged the pope would likely criticize some Trump administration policies but said he welcomed the dialogue and didn\u2019t believe the Church and the administration had to agree on everything.\u201cI think again there is this demand that you treat people with dignity\u2026 There\u2019s also an acceptance, maybe even endorsement, of the fact that nations are allowed to control their borders,\u201d Vance said. \u201cHow do you balance these things when controlling your borders inevitably leads to law enforcement operations that sometimes can create issues? That\u2019s the balance that we fundamentally have to strike.\u201dMuch of \u201cCommunion\u201d deals with Vance\u2019s admission that he spent his younger years \u201cworshipping success\u201d while attending Yale Law School.\u201cThe social currency is credential,\u201d Vance told Barron. \u201cPeople don\u2019t care about what you\u2019ve achieved. They don\u2019t care about what you\u2019re going to achieve. They don\u2019t care about your family.\u201d He contrasted that with the community he grew up in, where \u201cthe thing that people were most interested in you is how are your kids doing.\u201d\u201cAnd yet at Yale it was who is going to get ahead in this game of life. And I found that very unsatisfying,\u201d he added.Vance made the distinction between being ambitious and what he now sees as the disordered pursuit of success.\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s the ambition to do something amazing or to do something transformative or to help a lot of people or to build a beautiful building,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a separate kind of ambition\u2026 which is like the desire to just get ahead for its own sake.\u201dBarron and Vance spent a significant portion of the conversation discussing French philosopher Ren\u00e9 Girard and his theory of mimetic desire, the idea that people desire things because others desire them.\u201cOnce you see it\u2026 it\u2019s very hard to unsee it,\u201d Vance said, describing how it happens at home with his kids. \u201cMy 9-year-old will pick up a toy that none of the kids have played with in six months. And instantly, all of them want that toy.\u201dVance argued that social media makes mimetic desire spread faster. \u201cBecause it sets that desire aflame and makes it spread so rapidly, it also makes the conflict side of it spread so rapidly,\u201d he said, recalling watching friends on Facebook \u201cget into arguments on the internet\u201d and thinking, \u201cthese are two really lovely human beings that are calling each other these terrible names.\u201dThe two also discussed Pope Leo XIII\u2019s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, a foundational document of Catholic social teaching. Vance said the document was impressive for trying to strike a balance between two extremes rather than picking a side.\u201cHe\u2019s very worried that if we don\u2019t strike the right balance between human dignity and prosperity, between workers and capital owners, that it\u2019s going to inevitably lead to this conflict,\u201d Vance said of Leo XIII. He argued the encyclical rejects both the Marxist assumption that class conflict is inevitable and the libertarian belief that there is no conflict. \u201cThere can be a real compromise,\u201d he said.Vance argued that same philosophy also separates President Donald Trump\u2019s economic approach from the Reagan era. \u201cWhat President Trump has brought is a recognition\u2026 that there is a national and community element to economics,\u201d Vance said, pointing to shortages of masks and hospital gowns during the COVID pandemic.Vance described his grandparents as \u201cclassic blue dog Democrats\u201d and said the biggest difference between their beliefs and today\u2019s Democratic Party is the absence of religion.\u00a0\u201cI do think that religion itself has become very disfavored among Democratic elites,\u201d he said.Later in the interview, Vance described a backstage conversation at a Turning Point USA event in which a young woman told him she and her friends were using ChatGPT to help respond to boys\u2019 text messages.\u00a0\u201cI realized that the technology that actually brings man and woman together successfully is the church,\u201d Vance said. \u201cYou have young people who are using ChatGPT and they don\u2019t want to.\u201d He said the rise of AI presents an opportunity for churches to step in.\u00a0\u00a0Barron also asked Vance about his prayer life. The vice president admitted that praying consistently with young children at home can be difficult.\u00a0\u201cProbably 80% of the time I fail on that,\u201d Vance said. \u201cEither because bedtime is too chaotic or because I\u2019m at the White House.\u201d He said part of his return to Christianity involved relearning how to pray after years as an atheist. \u201cIt\u2019s like when I was 17 and I would get on my knees and clasp my hands together, I would know what to say. When I was 28, I didn\u2019t know what to say anymore.\u201d\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be perfect at it,\u201d he said of praying. \u201cTry to just do as much as you can.\u201dVance\u2019s book, \u201cCommunion: Finding My Way Back,\u201d is on sale now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2"],"yoast_head":"\nEXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Tells Bishop Barron What\u2019s Gone Wrong In America - Blue Route Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Tells Bishop Barron What\u2019s Gone Wrong In America - Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vice President JD Vance sat down with prominent Catholic theologian Bishop Robert Barron this week to discuss his new book, \u201cCommunion: Finding My Way Back.\u201d The conversation ranged far beyond typical book tour talking points, touching on Vatican diplomacy, artificial intelligence, faith, and family life.\u00a0The most candid moment of the discussion came when Vance reflected on a Vatican meeting that followed his conversation with Pope Francis shortly before the pope\u2019s death. As he did previously, Vance reiterated that the discussion never moved beyond surface-level diplomatic language.\u201cIt just felt like [Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher] didn\u2019t want to move past the diplomatic platitudes,\u201d Vance told Barron. He recalled Vatican officials telling him the Church \u201cwould really prefer that you show more respect for the dignity of the migrant,\u201d but argued that was something everyone already believed.\u201cThere is an impulse within the church that is very comfortable in dealing with the highest level of generality because then it\u2019s not challenging to anybody,\u201d Vance said, adding that he believes \u201cthe current hierarchy is way too uncomfortable dealing with anything other than abstraction.\u201dVance said he hopes that changes under Pope Leo XIV, whom he described as \u201ca brilliant guy\u201d and \u201cclearly a very holy man.\u201d He acknowledged the pope would likely criticize some Trump administration policies but said he welcomed the dialogue and didn\u2019t believe the Church and the administration had to agree on everything.\u201cI think again there is this demand that you treat people with dignity\u2026 There\u2019s also an acceptance, maybe even endorsement, of the fact that nations are allowed to control their borders,\u201d Vance said. \u201cHow do you balance these things when controlling your borders inevitably leads to law enforcement operations that sometimes can create issues? That\u2019s the balance that we fundamentally have to strike.\u201dMuch of \u201cCommunion\u201d deals with Vance\u2019s admission that he spent his younger years \u201cworshipping success\u201d while attending Yale Law School.\u201cThe social currency is credential,\u201d Vance told Barron. \u201cPeople don\u2019t care about what you\u2019ve achieved. They don\u2019t care about what you\u2019re going to achieve. They don\u2019t care about your family.\u201d He contrasted that with the community he grew up in, where \u201cthe thing that people were most interested in you is how are your kids doing.\u201d\u201cAnd yet at Yale it was who is going to get ahead in this game of life. And I found that very unsatisfying,\u201d he added.Vance made the distinction between being ambitious and what he now sees as the disordered pursuit of success.\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s the ambition to do something amazing or to do something transformative or to help a lot of people or to build a beautiful building,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a separate kind of ambition\u2026 which is like the desire to just get ahead for its own sake.\u201dBarron and Vance spent a significant portion of the conversation discussing French philosopher Ren\u00e9 Girard and his theory of mimetic desire, the idea that people desire things because others desire them.\u201cOnce you see it\u2026 it\u2019s very hard to unsee it,\u201d Vance said, describing how it happens at home with his kids. \u201cMy 9-year-old will pick up a toy that none of the kids have played with in six months. And instantly, all of them want that toy.\u201dVance argued that social media makes mimetic desire spread faster. \u201cBecause it sets that desire aflame and makes it spread so rapidly, it also makes the conflict side of it spread so rapidly,\u201d he said, recalling watching friends on Facebook \u201cget into arguments on the internet\u201d and thinking, \u201cthese are two really lovely human beings that are calling each other these terrible names.\u201dThe two also discussed Pope Leo XIII\u2019s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, a foundational document of Catholic social teaching. Vance said the document was impressive for trying to strike a balance between two extremes rather than picking a side.\u201cHe\u2019s very worried that if we don\u2019t strike the right balance between human dignity and prosperity, between workers and capital owners, that it\u2019s going to inevitably lead to this conflict,\u201d Vance said of Leo XIII. He argued the encyclical rejects both the Marxist assumption that class conflict is inevitable and the libertarian belief that there is no conflict. \u201cThere can be a real compromise,\u201d he said.Vance argued that same philosophy also separates President Donald Trump\u2019s economic approach from the Reagan era. \u201cWhat President Trump has brought is a recognition\u2026 that there is a national and community element to economics,\u201d Vance said, pointing to shortages of masks and hospital gowns during the COVID pandemic.Vance described his grandparents as \u201cclassic blue dog Democrats\u201d and said the biggest difference between their beliefs and today\u2019s Democratic Party is the absence of religion.\u00a0\u201cI do think that religion itself has become very disfavored among Democratic elites,\u201d he said.Later in the interview, Vance described a backstage conversation at a Turning Point USA event in which a young woman told him she and her friends were using ChatGPT to help respond to boys\u2019 text messages.\u00a0\u201cI realized that the technology that actually brings man and woman together successfully is the church,\u201d Vance said. \u201cYou have young people who are using ChatGPT and they don\u2019t want to.\u201d He said the rise of AI presents an opportunity for churches to step in.\u00a0\u00a0Barron also asked Vance about his prayer life. The vice president admitted that praying consistently with young children at home can be difficult.\u00a0\u201cProbably 80% of the time I fail on that,\u201d Vance said. \u201cEither because bedtime is too chaotic or because I\u2019m at the White House.\u201d He said part of his return to Christianity involved relearning how to pray after years as an atheist. \u201cIt\u2019s like when I was 17 and I would get on my knees and clasp my hands together, I would know what to say. When I was 28, I didn\u2019t know what to say anymore.\u201d\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be perfect at it,\u201d he said of praying. \u201cTry to just do as much as you can.\u201dVance\u2019s book, \u201cCommunion: Finding My Way Back,\u201d is on sale now.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T06:06:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1374#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1374\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\"},\"headline\":\"EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Tells Bishop Barron What\u2019s Gone Wrong In America\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T06:06:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1374\"},\"wordCount\":1084,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1374#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5b737165017d04d846afd3f8a1708263.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1374#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1374\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1374\",\"name\":\"EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Tells Bishop Barron What\u2019s Gone Wrong In America - 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Blue Route Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Tells Bishop Barron What\u2019s Gone Wrong In America - Blue Route Journal","og_description":"Vice President JD Vance sat down with prominent Catholic theologian Bishop Robert Barron this week to discuss his new book, \u201cCommunion: Finding My Way Back.\u201d The conversation ranged far beyond typical book tour talking points, touching on Vatican diplomacy, artificial intelligence, faith, and family life.\u00a0The most candid moment of the discussion came when Vance reflected on a Vatican meeting that followed his conversation with Pope Francis shortly before the pope\u2019s death. As he did previously, Vance reiterated that the discussion never moved beyond surface-level diplomatic language.\u201cIt just felt like [Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher] didn\u2019t want to move past the diplomatic platitudes,\u201d Vance told Barron. He recalled Vatican officials telling him the Church \u201cwould really prefer that you show more respect for the dignity of the migrant,\u201d but argued that was something everyone already believed.\u201cThere is an impulse within the church that is very comfortable in dealing with the highest level of generality because then it\u2019s not challenging to anybody,\u201d Vance said, adding that he believes \u201cthe current hierarchy is way too uncomfortable dealing with anything other than abstraction.\u201dVance said he hopes that changes under Pope Leo XIV, whom he described as \u201ca brilliant guy\u201d and \u201cclearly a very holy man.\u201d He acknowledged the pope would likely criticize some Trump administration policies but said he welcomed the dialogue and didn\u2019t believe the Church and the administration had to agree on everything.\u201cI think again there is this demand that you treat people with dignity\u2026 There\u2019s also an acceptance, maybe even endorsement, of the fact that nations are allowed to control their borders,\u201d Vance said. \u201cHow do you balance these things when controlling your borders inevitably leads to law enforcement operations that sometimes can create issues? That\u2019s the balance that we fundamentally have to strike.\u201dMuch of \u201cCommunion\u201d deals with Vance\u2019s admission that he spent his younger years \u201cworshipping success\u201d while attending Yale Law School.\u201cThe social currency is credential,\u201d Vance told Barron. \u201cPeople don\u2019t care about what you\u2019ve achieved. They don\u2019t care about what you\u2019re going to achieve. They don\u2019t care about your family.\u201d He contrasted that with the community he grew up in, where \u201cthe thing that people were most interested in you is how are your kids doing.\u201d\u201cAnd yet at Yale it was who is going to get ahead in this game of life. And I found that very unsatisfying,\u201d he added.Vance made the distinction between being ambitious and what he now sees as the disordered pursuit of success.\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s the ambition to do something amazing or to do something transformative or to help a lot of people or to build a beautiful building,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a separate kind of ambition\u2026 which is like the desire to just get ahead for its own sake.\u201dBarron and Vance spent a significant portion of the conversation discussing French philosopher Ren\u00e9 Girard and his theory of mimetic desire, the idea that people desire things because others desire them.\u201cOnce you see it\u2026 it\u2019s very hard to unsee it,\u201d Vance said, describing how it happens at home with his kids. \u201cMy 9-year-old will pick up a toy that none of the kids have played with in six months. And instantly, all of them want that toy.\u201dVance argued that social media makes mimetic desire spread faster. \u201cBecause it sets that desire aflame and makes it spread so rapidly, it also makes the conflict side of it spread so rapidly,\u201d he said, recalling watching friends on Facebook \u201cget into arguments on the internet\u201d and thinking, \u201cthese are two really lovely human beings that are calling each other these terrible names.\u201dThe two also discussed Pope Leo XIII\u2019s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, a foundational document of Catholic social teaching. Vance said the document was impressive for trying to strike a balance between two extremes rather than picking a side.\u201cHe\u2019s very worried that if we don\u2019t strike the right balance between human dignity and prosperity, between workers and capital owners, that it\u2019s going to inevitably lead to this conflict,\u201d Vance said of Leo XIII. He argued the encyclical rejects both the Marxist assumption that class conflict is inevitable and the libertarian belief that there is no conflict. \u201cThere can be a real compromise,\u201d he said.Vance argued that same philosophy also separates President Donald Trump\u2019s economic approach from the Reagan era. \u201cWhat President Trump has brought is a recognition\u2026 that there is a national and community element to economics,\u201d Vance said, pointing to shortages of masks and hospital gowns during the COVID pandemic.Vance described his grandparents as \u201cclassic blue dog Democrats\u201d and said the biggest difference between their beliefs and today\u2019s Democratic Party is the absence of religion.\u00a0\u201cI do think that religion itself has become very disfavored among Democratic elites,\u201d he said.Later in the interview, Vance described a backstage conversation at a Turning Point USA event in which a young woman told him she and her friends were using ChatGPT to help respond to boys\u2019 text messages.\u00a0\u201cI realized that the technology that actually brings man and woman together successfully is the church,\u201d Vance said. \u201cYou have young people who are using ChatGPT and they don\u2019t want to.\u201d He said the rise of AI presents an opportunity for churches to step in.\u00a0\u00a0Barron also asked Vance about his prayer life. The vice president admitted that praying consistently with young children at home can be difficult.\u00a0\u201cProbably 80% of the time I fail on that,\u201d Vance said. \u201cEither because bedtime is too chaotic or because I\u2019m at the White House.\u201d He said part of his return to Christianity involved relearning how to pray after years as an atheist. \u201cIt\u2019s like when I was 17 and I would get on my knees and clasp my hands together, I would know what to say. When I was 28, I didn\u2019t know what to say anymore.\u201d\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be perfect at it,\u201d he said of praying. \u201cTry to just do as much as you can.\u201dVance\u2019s book, \u201cCommunion: Finding My Way Back,\u201d is on sale now.","og_url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374","og_site_name":"Blue Route Journal","article_published_time":"2026-07-17T06:06:52+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c"},"headline":"EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Tells Bishop Barron What\u2019s Gone Wrong In America","datePublished":"2026-07-17T06:06:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374"},"wordCount":1084,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5b737165017d04d846afd3f8a1708263.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1374","name":"EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance Tells Bishop Barron What\u2019s Gone Wrong In America - 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