Vance caps Middle East trip, calls for lasting peace with stop at Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Vice President JD Vance elevated his latest calls for a lasting peace between Israel and Hamas to a spiritual level Thursday morning, stopping at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to pray shortly before his planned departure for the United States.

Vance, a Catholic, together with Second Lady Usha Vance, made a nearly 90-minute pilgrimage to the ancient church traditionally believed to have been built over the site of the crucifixion and burial tomb of Jesus Christ. As such, what is also known as the Church of the Resurrection is the holiest site in Christianity and therefore an important pilgrimage destination.

The Vances toured the main stops inside, including Golgotha, where Jesus is believed to have died, and the Stone of Anointing, where His body was prepared for burial. At the tomb of the Holy Sepulchre, Vance knelt and made the Sign of the Cross with his right hand while bowing his head, then put his hand on the sacred slab in silent prayer. The vice president then participated in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and a private Mass, with the second lady, a Hindu, looking on.

The Vances also each lit a candle from a flame transferred from the venerated tomb each day, a popular devotion of spiritual continuity.

An Armenian bishop also lit two white candles from the flame to send back to the White House, according to the VP press pool report.

“We are sending these lights to the White House. May God bless America, the United States, and Armenia and our friendship,” the bishop reportedly said to pool reporter Francesca Chambers of USA TODAY.

Following the visit to the church, Vance was scheduled to attend briefings at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv before departing for the airport.

The Vances’ three-day visit to the Holy Land follows that of President Donald Trump, who most recently traveled there Oct. 10 to celebrate a breakthrough in the two-year conflict that ravaged the Gaza Strip, and gather a coalition of nations to help oversee the peace process. Trump, with the help of other American officials as well as Egyptian and Qatari mediators, brokered the long-hoped-for release of the final 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the remains of 28 others — including two Americans, Omer Neutra, 21, and Itay Chen, 19 — earning praise from both across the aisle and around the world.

In recent days, the agreement to begin the peace process has brought a spark of hope to the Holy Land. I encourage the parties involved to continue courageously along the path that has been set out, toward a just, lasting, and respectful #Peace that honors the legitimate…

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) October 12, 2025

بيان صحفي صادر عن البطريركية اللاتينية في القدس حول الإعلان عن اتفاق في غزة
Press Release – Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem on the Announcement of an Agreement in Gaza https://t.co/CtanfivmDc

— Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (@LPJerusalem) October 9, 2025

Vance announced his intention to visit the venerated Christian church during a Tuesday press conference with U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Ending with a call for Christians to pray for peace, the vice president reflected on the high stakes and the great effort to arrive at the present geopolitical development:

Christians have many titles for Jesus Christ, and one of them is the “Prince of Peace.” I ask all people of faith, in particular my fellow Christians, to pray that the Prince of Peace can continue to work a miracle in this region of the world. I think that we have made incredible strides over the past week. We’re going to have to make a lot more, but I think with your prayers, with God’s providence, and with a very good team behind me, I think we’re gonna get it done.

We have made incredible progress in our efforts toward peace in the Middle East.

With the world’s prayers, God’s providence, and the excellent team President Trump has assembled, we will get the job done.⁩ pic.twitter.com/5s5sIABX0q

— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 21, 2025

He had also announced the opening of the Civilian Military Co-operation Center as part of the effort to begin rebuilding Gaza. Noting there is “a lot of work to do” to ensure peace in the region, Vance thanked the Israeli government and other partners before meeting Wednesday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It’s not about monitoring in the sense of, you know, you monitor a toddler,” Vance said about the U.S. overseeing the fragile peace after meeting Netanyahu. “It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work, a lot of good people who are doing that work, and it’s important for the principals in the administration to keep on ensuring that our people are doing what we need them to do.”

The next steps in the ceasefire deal, however, were “not going to be easy.”

“We don’t want a vassal state, and that’s not what Israel is,” Vance added, describing the relationship between the U.S. and the Jewish state. “We don’t want a client state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership.”

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built during the fourth-century reign of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, a convert to Christianity, before being destroyed and rebuilt during the 11th century. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the church in May 2017 during the first foreign travels of their administration, which included stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Holy See, Belgium, and Italy.

Secretaries of State Marco Rubio and Mike Pompeo also visited the church on February 16, 2025, and March 21, 2019, respectively. Joe Biden took a March 9, 2016, trip there as vice president.

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