Vice President J.D. Vance attends traditional Latin Mass in Cincinnati
J.D. Vance and his family attended a traditional Latin Mass on Sunday at Old St. Mary's Church in Cincinnati, years after he said he was not drawn to the rite
Vice President J.D. Vance went with his family to Old St. Mary's Church in Cincinnati on Sunday, August 23, for a traditional Latin Mass. Vance said publicly years ago that he did not feel particularly drawn to the rite, though he also criticized the restrictions placed on it.
Several accounts posted on social media reported that the vice president was at the Mass. Among them was Eric Sammons, editor of Crisis Magazine, a Catholic publication, who was there and confirmed he saw Vance with his family. Old St. Mary's, in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, is the oldest Catholic church still in use in Cincinnati. Every Sunday it offers a low Mass according to the 1962 missal at 7:30 a.m. and a traditional sung Mass at 9:30 a.m.
This is not the first time Vance has been linked to the church. In February 2026, on an episode of the program Crisis Point, Sammons said the vice president attended the Mass occasionally when he was in the Cincinnati area. Another participant on the program recalled seeing him receive Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue at another church in the area.
Vance has never presented himself as an advocate of the traditional liturgy. At a Napa Institute conference in 2021, shortly after Pope Leo XIV's motu proprio Traditionis custodes was published, he said: "I'm not really a Latin Mass guy." He added that the pope's decision to restrict that liturgy struck him as unfair: "it seemed unfair to me."
Vance converted to Catholicism as an adult and was received into the Church in 2019, in Cincinnati. Since taking office as vice president, his religious practice has drawn public attention, because he talks openly about his faith and how it shapes his political outlook. Sunday's visit came during a trip back to Ohio. On Friday, August 21, he gave a speech on American industry in Middletown, his hometown, and on Saturday he was seen with his wife, Usha, and their children at a restaurant in the Cincinnati area, where the family keeps a home.
Some analysts have said it could be the first time a sitting Catholic vice president has attended a Mass celebrated according to the older missal since John F. Kennedy, who died in 1963. Vance continues to attend these Masses on his visits to Cincinnati, five years after his conversion and despite the reservations he expressed in 2021.
