JD Vance reveals little-known Vatican secret in Glenn Beck interview

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn interviewed Vice President JD Vance over a range of topics, including Trump’s history-making trip to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, Europe’s social media censorship plans, potential spending cuts in the final version of the “big, beautiful bill,” Trump’s plan to slash regulations on AI and energy companies, why staying ahead of China on AI is a matter of life and death, and, finally, the Vatican’s role in global politics.

In their conversation on the Vatican, Vance, who is scheduled to attend Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration this weekend alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, revealed a fact about the Vatican few know.

“Why does the pope matter so much to the world … beyond faith and religion?” Glenn asked.

“He is the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics, and so there is just a lot of soft influence, right? He doesn't have a military; he doesn't have an army, but he does have a lot of influence,” said Vance.

“I think we won a majority of Catholics in the last election, but a lot of those Catholics continue to vote Democratic, and so there is just a natural influence in having the ear of 1.4 billion faithful people, including 100 million or so in the United States,” he continued.

However, it’s not just the Catholic people who are influenced by the pope; global leaders are listening as well.

“You don't see a lot of headlines about this, but the Vatican has already played a very constructive role in some of the peace conversations that we've been having all over the world,” says Vance. “They've been trying to facilitate negotiations between the Russians and the Ukrainians; they've been trying to facilitate other peaceful negotiations between various countries.”

“They have the ear of those Catholics, but then they also have an ability to use that soft power to play a mediating role in some of these disputes. So while the Pope doesn't have an F-35 standing behind him, he does have the prayers of a lot of faithful Catholics, and that matters when you try to insert yourself into these conversations,” Vance continued.

Vance added that he and President Trump “welcome that engagement” from the Vatican, as ending wars and promoting peace are pillars in the Trump agenda.

To hear the full interview, watch the clip above.

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