A prominent Catholic publication is publicly criticizing one of the Church’s highest-profile political converts. In an opinion column published Thursday, John Grosso, digital editor of the National Catholic Reporter, accused Vice President JD Vance of misrepresenting Christian teaching in his response to the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minnesota, according to HuffPost.
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed during an ICE operation on Wednesday. In a post on X, Vance described her as “a deranged leftist” and claimed she was part of a coordinated effort to target immigration agents. He wrote that the “tragedy” of her death was the result of her own actions and those of “radicals” who encourage resistance to immigration enforcement.
Video footage of the incident shows ICE officers surrounding Good’s SUV, with one officer pulling at her door before she reverses the vehicle, turns the wheels, and moves forward. An officer then opens fire. A New York Times analysis reported that the officer who fired the shot, identified as Jonathan Ross, was not in the vehicle’s direct path at the time. Despite this, Vance and other officials in President Trump’s administration characterized the shooting as self-defense and accused Good of attempting to run over the officer. The available footage does not show the officer being struck or knocked to the ground.
In his column, Grosso wrote that Vance “knows better” as a Catholic than to engage in what he called “gaslighting and agitation.” He described Vance’s remarks as “a moral stain” on the Church’s public witness and argued that the vice president’s Catholic identity appears to function primarily as a political tool.
Vance’s positions on immigration and theology have previously drawn criticism from Catholic leaders. The late Pope Francis rejected Vance’s invocation of the theological concept known as the “order of love” to justify prioritizing nonimmigrants and condemned strict deportation policies as denying the dignity of migrants. Before becoming pope, Pope Leo also shared an opinion essay sharply critical of Vance’s arguments.
Grosso is not alone among Catholics pushing back on Vance’s rhetoric, as debate continues within the Church over immigration, political power, and the moral responsibilities of public officials.