As US Vice President JD Vance tour India this week with his family Usha and their three children, public attention around the child’s spiritual origins has grown. From a church attend in New Delhi to a new tribute to Pope Francis, Vance’s individual expressions of faith have come under renewed spotlight—particularly as he and Usha represent a unique interracial active at the highest levels of American public life.
On Easter Sunday, one of the holiest time in the Christian timeline, Vance posted a heartfelt communication mourning the passing of Pope Francis, calling him a “beloved sheep. ” Only a day later, he was seen with his home at the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, where their children—Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel—were dressed in traditional Indian clothes: kurta-pyjamas for the kids and a bright Anarkali for their girl. The community also visited a crafts shop and is set to go across Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra as part of the vice chairman ’s four-day India plan.
In a post shared on X, Vance wrote: “Thank you all so much for your generosity and kindness in welcoming me and my home to this beautiful place. It is a great record to India that you built a wonderful temple with detail and attention. Our children, in special, loved it. God love. ”
But the nice magnification have also prompted a deeper question: what devotion does JD Vance actually follow? And what about his spouse, Usha Vance?
JD Vance: A Catholic Convert
Though raised in a loosely Holy house, JD Vance was no baptised as a child and did not internet with any religion. That changed in 2019, when he was fully baptised into the Catholic Church at St. Gertrude Priory, a Dominican church in Cincinnati. He chose St. Augustine as his patron saint—a wink to his academic approach to religion and belief.
“ I became persuaded over time that Catholicism was true, ” Vance told The American Conservative. “ I was raised Christian, but never had a super-strong connection to any church… I started out with a clean slate. ”
Vance’s transition placed him within a long history of Catholic American officials, including President Joe Biden and John F. Kennedy. He has since described his devotion as key to his view and common values.
Usha Vance: Triumphantly Hindu
Usha Vance ( née Chilukuri), a Yale-educated lawyer and the first Indian American Second Lady of the United States, comes from a deeply spiritual Hindu background. Her household practises Hinduism with passion, and Usha has remained strongly connected to those beliefs throughout her career.
When she married JD in Kentucky in 2014, the pair held both a legal service and a standard Hindu marriage officiated by a journalist. According to The New York Times, this double party reflected the religious harmony at the heart of their marriage.
JD Vance has generally credited Usha with helping him interact with faith during their period at Yale Law School, describing her spiritual grounding as a key influence in his own moral journey.
An Interfaith Portrait in the Global Arena
As JD Vance continues his India visit, his family offers a quiet but powerful symbol of the increasingly multicultural and multifaith fabric of American leadership. The sight of their children in Indian attire at a Hindu temple, shortly after their father paid tribute to a Catholic pope, encapsulates the blending of traditions that defines their home life.
So is JD Vance Christian or Hindu?
He is Catholic. His wife, Usha, is Hindu. And together, they represent a new face of American diplomacy—one that embodies both tradition and diversity, belief and respect.
