Whatever one’s views are about the Catholic Church, there is no question that it takes its doctrines seriously, devoting enormous amounts of time to research and develop its theology, even if the final product sometimes has the aim of justifying its often horrendous history of violence and abuse and misogyny.

The question of when it is justifiable to use force and violence is one that transcends religion and is problematic for everyone. This is one of those areas that the church has studied quite deeply and it has arrived at the so-called ‘just war theory’, of under what circumstances going to war is defensible. The originator of this theory was St. Augustine of Hippo in the 4th century, and it was developed further by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. Pope Leo is a member of the Augustinian order, the first person from that order to become a pope and is currently visiting the site of Hippo, where Augustine was bishop for 34 years in order to pay homage to founder of his order.

Leo, the first pope to be a member of the Augustinian religious order inspired by the saint, traveled to Algeria to visit the site of ancient Hippo, the Roman city where Augustine was a bishop for 34 years.

Celebrating Mass in the Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba which overlooks the ancient site, the pope said “the guiding principle above all for Christians is charity.”

Before becoming a bishop, Leo was head of the global Augustinian religious order inspired by the life and teachings of the saint; he wrote his doctoral dissertation on St. Augustine’s understanding of authority.

All of this is to say that Leo is very likely to be very well-versed on issues of theology and particularly the Catholic doctrine of just war.

JD Vance, on the other hand, converted to Catholicism just six years ago. But he is one of the biggest ass-kissers of Trump, willing to say the most absurd things in his defense even when he does the indefensible like posting images of himself as Jesus. When Leo criticized the current wars being waged as immoral, Vance condescendingly suggest to Leo he did not know much about just war theory and that he should stay in his lane.

“I think one of the issues here is that if you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth, and that’s one of the things that I try to do, and it’s certainly something I would expect from the clergy, whether they’re Catholic or Protestant,” he added.”

Even Republican senate majority leader John Thune sounded incredulous that Vance would say this and suggested that it was he who should ‘stay in his lane’..

Asked about Vance’s comment that the pope should be “careful” when discussing “matters of theology,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday, “When he talks about matters of theology? Isn’t that his job?”

He added, “I’d stay focused on the administration, on the economic issues, the pocketbook issues that I think most Americans care about, and let the church be the church.”

Vance is like the student that all teachers have encountered, who confidently and smugly asserts a half-baked idea they picked up somewhere and says it in class in a manner that is meant to show everyone that they know more than the teacher. But they are almost always quite wrong. I have had such students and try to gently correct them without making them look stupid in front of their fellow students.

But the Catholic bishops in the US have no such scruples and they pretty much told Vance that he was talking through his hat and should get lost.

America’s top Catholic bishops have slammed Vice President JD Vance’s attempt to lecture Pope Leo XIV on the religion he converted to six years ago.

Bishop James Massa, 65, issued a statement on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine on Wednesday after Vance, 41, tried to school the pope on what defines just war theory during a Turning Point USA event the day before.

“For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war,” Massa’s statement begins. “A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2308).”

“That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,’” the statement continued.

“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ. The consistent teaching of the Church is insistent that all people of goodwill must pray and work toward lasting peace while avoiding the evils and injustices that accompany all wars.”
…

The just war theory in Catholic doctrine was developed by Christian minds such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine; the latter, Vance says, he has adopted as his patron saint.

Leo has a much closer connection to the Catholic philosopher, given that he previously served as the Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine for more than a decade and is the first-ever pope from his order.

Leo himself is not backing down.

Perhaps Vance, instead of pontificating to the pope about theology, should take up the study of poetry. He could learn a lot from reading the poem An Essay on Criticism by the coincidentally named Alexander Pope where, among other useful bits of advice, Pope says:

A little learning is a dang’rous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.

Vance is one of those hapless losers who has got where he is by a combination of luck and unprincipled ambition, propelled by an extreme right wing billionaire in Peter Thiel and who keeps embarrassing himself. He struck out in the peace talks in Islamabad and then scolded the EU for interfering in Hungary’s elections while he was himself in that country campaigning for Orban, who then lost ignominiously.

He reminds me of another young midwestern senator who was plucked out of relative political obscurity to become vice-president and then went on to do nothing while committing a series of gaffes. Dan Quayle then faded into obscurity. We should hope that that is the fate that awaits Vance.