Rod Dreher on Helping JD Vance Convert to Catholicism and His Munich Speech

Launching JD Vance's Career

• 💡 A liberal reader recommended JD Vance's book "Hillbilly Elegy" to Rod Dreher, leading to an interview that went viral.
• 🚀 This viral interview propelled JD Vance from an unknown author to a New York Times bestseller and a frequent guest on news shows.

JD Vance's Path to Catholicism

• 🔑 JD Vance, already a public figure, reached out to Rod Dreher in 2018 expressing interest in converting to Catholicism.
• 🤝 Dreher connected Vance with Father Dominic Legge, a Dominican priest, who began his catechesis.
• 📍 When Vance and his wife moved to Cincinnati, Father Dominic referred them to Father Henry, who continued the process, culminating in Vance's reception into the Catholic Church in 2019.

Vance's Munich Security Conference Speech

• 🗣️ In 2024, Vance, then a US Senator, felt shunned at the Munich Security Conference for his criticism of NATO policy on Ukraine.
• 💬 He invited Dreher to dinner, expressing frustration at being ignored by European elites.
• 🎯 Vance delivered a speech at the conference, which he described as a call for Europe to address its own weaknesses, including military reliance on America, migration issues, and free speech crackdowns, rather than focusing solely on Russia.

European Reaction to Vance's Speech

• 💥 The speech caused significant backlash from European establishment figures, who felt insulted by Vance's directness.
• 👍 Conversely, conservatives across Europe, from Romania to Great Britain, and particularly younger Catholics in France, viewed the speech as a landmark moment and a necessary truth-telling.
• 🇫🇷 The Abbott of the monastery of Ségur in France stated that they were praying for Vance daily, believing the future of France depended on him.