"As a Catholic, Vance knows better than to peddle this brand of gaslighting and agitation," the op-ed read.

A Catholic newspaper published a scathing op-ed ripping into Vice President JD Vance following comments he made justifying the fatal shooting of a Minnesota mother by a federal immigration officer.

"As a Catholic, Vance knows better than to peddle this brand of gaslighting and agitation," National Catholic Reporter digital editor John Grosso wrote in the piece, which was published Thursday.

Vance, a Catholic convert, called the victim of Wednesday`s shooting "a deranged leftist" and "part of a broader left-wing network to attack, to doxx, to assault and to make it impossible for our ICE officers to do their job."

Vice President JD Vance blamed Wednesday`s shooting on the victim and "all of the radicals who teach people that immigration is the one type of law that rioters are allowed to interfere with."Bloomberg via Getty Images

Video taken from multiple angles of the incident shows immigration officers surrounding victim Renee Nicole Good`s SUV as one approaches her driver`s-side door and pulls the handle. Good reverses her vehicle, turns the front wheels to the right and drives forward as an officer fires shots at her.

Despite the footage, and a witness saying Good was "obviously scared" in the moment and trying to get away from the officers, President Donald Trump and his administration came out to bash her, saying she "violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer," (identified by The Star Tribune as Jonathan Ross).

Video, however, shows that the officer was never knocked off his feet. A New York Times video analysis found that the officer wasn`t even in the SUV`s path when he fired.

Yet Trump officials are painting the shooting of the 37-year-old mother of three as self-defense while demonizing Good.

"A tragedy? Absolutely. But a tragedy that falls on this woman and all of the radicals who teach people that immigration is the one type of law that rioters are allowed to interfere with," Vance wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

This is preposterous.

First of all, she`s not waving the officers through and has no right to do so even if she were. She is waving another car through, before the officers approach her car.

Second, the officers are not randomly searching her, they are approaching her vehicle… https://t.co/2PnvK8KOCE

— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 8, 2026

Grosso said that "as a Catholic, Vance knows better than to peddle this brand of gaslighting and agitation," slamming his "twisted and wrongheaded view of Christianity."

Vance has come under massive scrutiny over his interpretation of the faith.

The late Pope Francis rebuked Vance`s interpretation of "ordo amoris," or "order of love," a medieval Catholic concept that the vice president suggested means Catholics must prioritize nonimmigrants. The late holy leader also slammed the Trump administration`s deportation efforts, warning that they deprive migrants of their inherent dignity.

Pope Leo XIV, when he was still Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, shared an opinion piece also from the National Catholic Reporter titled "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn`t ask us to rank our love for others."

Grosso condemned Vance`s approach to his faith, saying his "Catholicism seems to be little more than a political prop, a tool only for his career ambitions and desire for power."

The op-ed went on to say Vance`s "comments justifying the death of Renee Good are a moral stain on the collective witness of our Catholic faith."

"His repeated attempts to blame Good for her own death are fundamentally incompatible with the Gospel. Our only recourse is to pray for his conversion of heart," Grosso wrote.