Vice President J. D. Vance made a solemn pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, accompanied by high-ranking clerics from the Armenian, Greek and Latin Patriarchates.
The visit underscores both his personal faith commitment and the wider inter-Christian ecumenical dimensions of his diplomatic itinerary in the region.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem includes both the location of the Crucifixion of Jesus and the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.
The Roman emperor Constantine I, a convert to Christianity, had the temple of Venus in Jerusalem demolished to make way for a church, which was consecrated in 335 AD.
The Church’s custodial duties are shared by the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian Apostolic churches.
The US Vice President knelt and prayed at the Stone of Anointing, inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus’ body is said to have been anointed before burial.
BREAKING: U.S. Vice President JD Vance visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, accompanied by the Armenian, Greek, and Latin Patriarchates—custodians of Christianity’s holiest sites. He paused to pray at the Stone of Anointment. pic.twitter.com/PBCznmZ9on
— Kegham Balian (@kbalian90) October 23, 2025
Here’s another beautiful photo of J.D. Vance inside the church where Christ was laid to rest.
JD Vance at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher: pic.twitter.com/42on6KWgdU
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) October 23, 2025
Vice President Vance stands at the Calvary altar at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, one of the most sacred Christian sites in the world, marking the spot where Jesus Christ was crucified. pic.twitter.com/0LaNDA6BEL
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 23, 2025
Vice President Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, spent roughly 90 minutes inside the Church, pausing at several of its most revered sites, including the Stone of Anointing, the slab on which tradition holds Christ’s body was laid for burial.
Vance later described the moment as an “amazing blessing” and expressed gratitude to the Greek, Armenian and Catholic clergy who “care for this most sacred of places.”
“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.”https://t.co/Dp8qpaCZBN
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) October 23, 2025
VP Vance wrote:
“What an amazing blessing to have visited the site of Christ’s death and resurrection. I am immensely grateful to to the Greek, Armenian, and Catholic priests who care for this most sacred of places.
May the Prince of Peace have mercy on us, and bless our efforts for peace.”
What an amazing blessing to have visited the site of Christ’s death and resurrection. I am immensely grateful to to the Greek, Armenian, and Catholic priests who care for this most sacred of places.
May the Prince of Peace have mercy on us, and bless our efforts for peace. https://t.co/X6CDoxJqOj
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 23, 2025
Vice President Vance later delivered a speech on the peace process in the Middle East. He was flanked by Jared Kushner and Witkoff, who brokered the historic Israel-Hamas peace deal for President Trump.
“I think that we are one week into President Trump’s historic peace plan in the Middle East, and things are, frankly, going better than I expected. This is a very, very tough situation. You have two peoples — two enemies — who have fought a very tough conflict against each other. You have a terrorist organization, on one hand, that murdered a lot of innocent people. You’ve got an Israeli army, on the other hand, that was defending itself and has learned a lot over the past couple of years. Then, of course, you have an innocent civilian population in Gaza caught in the middle.
But here, at the Civilian-Military Cooperation Center, which we are announcing the opening of, you have Israelis and Americans working hand in hand to begin the plan to rebuild Gaza, to implement a long-term peace, and to actually ensure that you have security forces on the ground in Gaza — not composed of Americans — who can keep the peace over the long term.
We’ve got a lot of work left to do. This is going to take a very long time, but I think Steve Whitkoff, Jared, and Admiral Cooper behind me have done an incredible job.
I want to say just a couple of quick things, and then I want to turn it over to Steve Whitkoff. Number one, the Israeli government has been remarkably helpful in this. I want to thank them — thank our Israeli partners and all the folks, particularly those who are working hand in hand with their American friends here at the CMCC.
Number two, I want to say that there is this weird attitude I’ve sensed in the American media — in the Western media — where there’s almost this desire to root for failure.
Every time something bad happens, every time there’s an act of violence, there’s this inclination to say, “Oh, this is the end of the ceasefire. This is the end of the peace plan.” It’s not the end. It is, in fact, exactly how this is going to have to happen when you have people who hate each other, who have been fighting against each other for a very long time.
We are doing very well. We are in a very good place. We’re going to have to keep working on it, but I think we have the team to do exactly that. With all thanks to our partners — both in Israel and across the Gulf Arab states, Indonesia, and Turkey — we are doing an amazing thing here, and I’m particularly proud of the American troops working at the Command Center who are coordinating this effort and making it happen.”
JUST NOW: JD Vance says in Israel that President Trump’s Gaza peace deal is holding up “BETTER than I expected”
“This is a very, very tough situation. You have two peoples, two enemies who have fought a very tough conflict against each other.”
“You have a terrorist… pic.twitter.com/0QhAIdPuWs
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 21, 2025
