Saturday Night Live is no stranger to poking fun at religion, but its recent sketches have drawn criticism for indicating that Vice President J.D. Vance may have had a role in Pope Francis’ death.
The episode kicked off with a heartfelt musical tribute to mothers ahead of Mother’s Day. However, the mood swiftly shifted when cast member James Austin Johnson interrupted with a parody of Donald Trump. The opening monologue has been focused on Trump for several consecutive weeks.
“It’s me again, I’ll break into every aspect of your life,” Johnson’s Trump announced as he took center stage. He quickly transitioned to discussing the election of the new pope in the Catholic Church.
“We don’t have the American Pope, Chicago style or ketchup,” he joked about Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago. “But we like Pope Leo. I hope he does what we want. That’s what you want, right?”
The tone took a darker turn when Parody Trump suggested Vance might be connected to Pope Francis’ demise.
“If not, I have to send JD back to do his thing. Do you remember the last time JD met the Pope?” he quipped, referring to Vance’s meeting with Pope Francis just one day before the Pope’s passing.
Indeed, Vance was the last known world leader to meet Pope Francis, who had visited him last Easter Sunday. The Pope died the next day.
The sketch continued with Johnson’s Trump remarking, “He has a touch of Midis, but for something bad. He meets the Pope. He dies. Go to India? War! Join my campaign? Trump wins!”
After news of the Pope’s passing, Vance expressed his sorrow on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“He was obviously very ill, but I was happy to see him yesterday,” Vance stated. “But I always remember him for the sacred people below whom he gave in the very early days of Covid. It was really so pretty, as God lets his soul rest.”
However, the timing of their meeting has led to conspiracy theories and jokes circulating online. John F. Kennedy’s grandson even joked to his followers, “It’s okay, JD killed the Pope.”
While Vance hasn’t addressed the speculation directly, he did mention in an interview with Fox News Digital that the meeting felt significant.
“I was alone, if not the last world leader to actually meet the Pope,” he reflected. “I took one of my junior staff members, who is a devout Catholic, to the meeting. I looked back at him as he was about to meet the Pope. He was crying. This institution means so much to over a billion people worldwide.”
After that meeting, Vance traveled to India for a diplomatic engagement, only to learn of the Pope’s passing upon arrival.
The SNL sketch didn’t stop at the Vance-Pope connection but also humorously equated religion to an American institution, casting a comical light on Catholicism itself.
“We love Catholics,” quipped Johnson’s Trump. “It’s one of the more powerful Christian organizations, along with the Salvation Army, and I would say Chick-fil-A.”
This season, the long-standing sketch show has continually scrutinized Trump’s faith, often making comparisons in lighthearted contexts. In another parody, Trump said, “It’s me, your favorite president, Donald Jesus Trump, once again comparing myself to the Son of God.”
