Vice President JD Vance privately apologized to a leading Catholic cardinal after publicly alleging that American bishops were benefiting financially from immigration, according to new details that highlight a sharp contrast between his public remarks and private concessions.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the former New York Archbishop who offered the invocation at both of President Donald Trump’s inaugurations, told EWTN News on February 19 that Vance apologized for heated statements he made shortly after assuming office in January 2025.
“He and I had a little tete-a-tete,” Dolan said. “And he apologized. He said, ‘That was out of line and that’s not true.'”
The disclosure comes over a year after Vance drew national headlines for criticizing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops over their objections to the Trump administration’s executive order authorizing immigration raids at schools and churches. Citing his 2019 conversion, Vance publicly questioned whether the church’s stance was motivated by compassion or by money.
During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Vance urged the bishops to “look in the mirror” and asked whether they were concerned about “humanitarian” issues or “actually worried about their bottom line,” noting that they receive more than $100 million to assist refugee resettlement.
Cardinal Dolan at the time denounced the remarks as “scurrilous,” “very nasty,” and “inaccurate.” His recent comments reveal that Vance later admitted privately that he was wrong, though he never issued a public correction.
The behind-the-scenes apology stands in stark contrast to Vance’s public stance on immigration enforcement and his readiness to confront religious leaders who oppose administration actions. Vance, who calls himself a “baby Catholic,” has promoted himself as a supporter of traditional Catholic teachings on family and life, while openly diverging from church authorities on immigration and refugee issues.
Even with the personal reconciliation, Cardinal Dolan said in his EWTN interview that he remains highly troubled by numerous Trump administration policies. He said he was “very upset” by the deportation efforts and accused ICE of “going into churches and harassing churches” during his time leading the New York archdiocese.
Dolan described using his seat on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission to challenge the issue of federal agents appearing at Sunday services. He said that, along with fellow commission member Franklin Graham, he raised concerns directly with ICE’s New York field office.
According to Dolan, the local ICE director responded constructively: “Thanks for bringing that to my attention. We’re not going to do that here.” The cardinal added that he hasn’t received reports of agents outside churches since.
The news of Vance’s apology comes as tensions between the Trump administration and Catholic leaders remain high. Pope Leo XIV, who met with Vance in May 2025, has been outspoken in criticizing the administration’s deportation strategies. Several leading U.S. cardinals, including Blase Cupich, Joseph Tobin, and Robert McElroy, have defended immigrant communities and questioned the morality of mass removals.
In December, Pope Leo XIV replaced Cardinal Dolan as New York’s archbishop with Ronald Hicks, a relatively obscure bishop from Illinois. Dolan, a well-known cultural conservative who continues to serve on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, told EWTN that despite his cooperation with the administration, he disagrees with several of its policies.
The cardinal said he was not “too happy” with Vance’s lack of support for Ukraine and noted that although he considers the vice president a “very good guy” who aligns with him on “the family,” “babies,” and “patriotism,” they still differ deeply on other matters.
The revelations highlight a troubling gap between Vance’s public criticism of religious leaders and his private recognition that his accusations were false. Critics have grown increasingly vocal in alleging that the vice president uses his Catholic faith as a political prop rather than letting it guide his policy choices.
The National Catholic Reporter has published several opinion pieces rebuking what one editor described as Vance’s “cafeteria Catholicism,” asserting that his selective adoption of church teachings “must continue to be repudiated by people of faith.”
Neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security has issued a comment on Cardinal Dolan’s account of the vice president’s private apology.
