Vance Reveals Private Talks With Pope Leo XIV as Iran War Split Tests Trump Ally

Q: Did Vice President Vance's secret talks with Pope Leo XIV help broker the recent Iran peace deal?

No evidence currently shows that JD Vance’s private talks with Pope Leo XIV helped broker the Iran peace deal. What is established is that Vance confirmed previously undisclosed direct contact with the Pope and described the relationship as positive. But neither Vance nor the Vatican has said those conversations were tied to the negotiations that produced the June 17 agreement between the United States and Iran. The available reporting points instead to Vance’s formal diplomatic role inside the Trump administration. He was publicly identified as a leading negotiator on the temporary deal, which reopened the Strait of Hormuz and paused military operations. President Trump also publicly credited Vance’s role. Separate reporting points to third-party mediation, including Pakistan, rather than Vatican back-channel involvement. Pope Leo XIV’s role appears to have been moral and public, not operational. He repeatedly condemned the war, rejected its justification under just war theory, and urged a rapid end through dialogue. After the agreement, he welcomed it and thanked countries that helped facilitate peace, but there was no public indication that he or his private contacts with Vance were part of the bargaining process. So the most accurate answer is that the secret talks may have helped preserve a line of communication between two influential figures who disagreed sharply in public, but there is no factual basis at this point to say they helped secure the Iran deal.

3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 18

JD Vance said on a New York Times podcast that he has spoken privately with Pope Leo XIV in recent months, describing the relationship as positive despite refusing to discuss the conversations.
The disclosure came as Vance was pressed on their differences over the Iran war: Vance had previously opposed a U.S. conflict, while Leo has sharply criticized American involvement since Trump launched strikes in late February.
Vance said his role is to give Trump full information, then defend and execute the president’s decision rather than publicly dissent, even if he has private concerns.
The relationship has mixed public signals: Vance in April faulted Leo’s reading of just war theory, later praised his AI encyclical, and this week Leo welcomed the temporary Iran ceasefire that Vance helped negotiate.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 and met Leo at his May 2025 inaugural Mass, said he sees the pope as an important moral voice with a different job from the U.S. vice president.