JD Vance announces new memoir detailing 'my way back to faith'

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Friday, April 03, 2026

Vice President JD Vance has written a new memoir about his conversion to Roman Catholicism amid speculation that he'll be running for president in 2028.  

In an X post on Tuesday, Vance announced that his book, titled Communion: Finding My Way Backto Faith, will be released on June 16.

“I’ve been writing this book for a long time, and I’m honored to finally be able to share the full story with you all,” he stated. Vance stressed that Communion details his “personal journey and how I found my way back to faith."

A statement by the book’s publisher, HarperCollins, describes it as “an intimate account of why Vice President JD Vance strayed from the Christianity of his youth and what led him back.”

In an excerpt of the book shared by the publisher, Vance wrote: “The story of how I regained my faith, of course, only happened because I had lost it to begin with.”

“The interesting question that hangs over this book, and over my mind, is why I ever strayed from the path. Why the Christian faith of my youth failed to properly take root. I’m glad I found my way back to the Church,” he added. 

"I learned much along the way. But if you believe as I do, you know I’ve been fortunate and touched by God’s grace. To summarize this book: I’m a Christian, and I became a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings are true."

Vance expressed hope that “by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others — Catholic, Protestant or otherwise — who are seeking reconciliation with God.”

Jonathan Burnham, president and publisher of the Harper Group, said the book “will speak to so many searching for faith, connection and meaning in their lives,” adding that Vance's “deeply heartfelt story of doubt and regained belief resonates far beyond politics, offering a moving reflection on the questions that define this moment in American public life.” 

Vance’s new release comes a decade after the memoir he wrote as a private citizen, Hillbilly Elegy. Hillbilly Elegy was later made into a movie. 

The publication of Vance’s book also comes amid expectations that the vice president will seek the Republican nomination for president in the 2028 election, as President Donald Trump is barred from seeking another term by the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls asking Republican primary voters which potential candidate they would support, accessed Thursday, shows Vance leading with 44.9% support, followed by Donald Trump Jr. at 14.5%, Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 12.7%, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 7.6%.

Vance had previously talked about his Catholic faith during an appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in 2025, identifying himself as a “baby Catholic” and the first convert to Catholicism to serve as vice president of the U.S.

“What attracted me to the Christian faith and what attracted me to this church, in particular, is the recognition that grace is not something that happens instantaneously,” he said. “It’s something that God works in us over a long period of time, sometimes many years and sometimes many decades.” 

“I think that when I was a kid, my assumption is that grace is something where the Holy Spirit would come in and it would solve all of our problems,” he recalled. “I think that what the Catholic Church calls me to do is to say that if the stock market’s doing OK but people are literally dying and losing years off of their life, then we have to do better as a country.”