JD Vance’s Catholic Conversion Book Has a Not-So-Catholic Church on Cover

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Vice President JD Vance’s forthcoming memoir on his return to faith and converting to Catholicism is facing questions over a striking detail – the church pictured on its cover is not Catholic at all.

Vance announced Tuesday that his new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, will be released on June 16:

According to its publisher’s description, Communion is focused specifically on Vance’s conversion to Catholicism and explores how his faith shapes his role in public life. The memoir “reveals how Vance regained his faith and discusses his conversion to Catholicism, how his faith guides his work in public life, and how it shapes his thoughts about the future.”

But The Bulwark’s national political reporter Joe Perticone discovered the image chosen for the cover, depicting a rural Appalachian-style chapel, depicts Mount Zion Church in Elk Creek, Virginia, a United Methodist place of worship, rather than a Catholic one.

(Screengrab via Google Maps)

“Mount Zion is undeniably photogenic, which is why it’s also a popular stock image,” Perticone wrote. “Vance’s choice of photo struck me as odd, given that the vice president has been outspoken about his Catholic faith.”

The reporter added that requests for clarification were redirected by Vance’s office to publisher HarperCollins, which did not respond.

The release comes amid a strained relationship between the Trump administration and senior Catholic figures. The late Pope Francis, in fact, rebuked Vance last year for what he saw as the opportunistic use of Church teaching to justify the administration’s hardline immigration stance.

The vice president then visited the pope last Easter, just hours before he died.

In recent months, both Pope Leo XIV and Washington Archbishop Cardinal Robert McElroy have also issued sharp criticisms of the Trump administration’s policies.

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