Cincinnati, where Vance converted, gives a glimpse of Catholicism’s history in America’s heartland
(The Conversation) — Ten years after “Hillbilly Elegy” catapulted its author into public view, JD Vance is publishing a new memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” The vice president explains the book as a sort of self-help guide for the spiritually lost: “… by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others – Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise – who are seeking reconciliation with God.” Scheduled for publication in June 2026, “Communion” promises “an intimate account” of its author’s religious journey. But the Catholicism to which Vance converted in Cincinnati in 2019 is quite unlike the evangelism he encountered in his childhood, famously described in “Hillbilly Elegy.” As a historian of religion in Appalachia and the Midwest, I find America’s religious mosaic endlessly fascinating. Vance’s journey from Protestantism, to atheism, to Catholicism, not to mention his marriage to a Hindu woman, reflects the diversity of the United States. My own experiences teaching in Vance’s hometown of Middletown, Ohio, suggest that America’s Midwestern communities, tarnished by “Rust Belt” stereotypes, are as dynamic and as …
