Second Lady Usha Vance said their three children Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel will have a choice to decide whether they want to be baptized Catholics as they grow up. In an interview with Meghan McCain, Usha said their eldest child Ewan has decided to be a baptized Catholic and Vivek is next to choose his religion. Commenting on her interfaith marriage and parenting with JD Vance who converted to Catholism after their marriage and the birth of their first two children, the Second Lady said they have made going to the church a family thing, though their children know that Usha Vance is not a Catholic but a Hindu, and she is not going to convert.
"At the time when I met JD, he wasn't Catholic, and he converted later and when he converted, we had a lot of conversations about that because it was actually after we had our first child, maybe it was after Vivek was born too," she said. "When you convert to Catholicism it comes with several important obligations, like to raise your child in the faith and all that."
"We had to have a lot of real conversations about how do you do that, when I'm not Catholic, and I'm not intending to convert or anything like that," Usha continued.
"So what we've ended up doing is we send our kids to Catholic school, and we have given them each the choice, right? They can choose whether they want to be baptized Catholic and then go through the whole step-by-step process with their classes in school," she said.
Usha Vance said their children have plenty of access to Hindu traditions through books that they give them, through things that they show them, and events like their recent visit to India.
Hindu traditions are a part of their lives though the Vances don't celebrate Hindu festivals at home like Diwali, Holi, but they spend a lot of time with Usha's parents and her grandmother.
"My grandmother is a devout Hindu. She prays every day, visit the temple regularly, does her puja. We spend a lot of time with her. We don't mark a lot of holidays at home, but what we do is spend time with my family," Usha said adding that she would like to throw a Holi party next year at home.
"At the time when I met JD, he wasn't Catholic, and he converted later and when he converted, we had a lot of conversations about that because it was actually after we had our first child, maybe it was after Vivek was born too," she said. "When you convert to Catholicism it comes with several important obligations, like to raise your child in the faith and all that."
"We had to have a lot of real conversations about how do you do that, when I'm not Catholic, and I'm not intending to convert or anything like that," Usha continued.
"So what we've ended up doing is we send our kids to Catholic school, and we have given them each the choice, right? They can choose whether they want to be baptized Catholic and then go through the whole step-by-step process with their classes in school," she said.
Usha Vance said their children have plenty of access to Hindu traditions through books that they give them, through things that they show them, and events like their recent visit to India.
Hindu traditions are a part of their lives though the Vances don't celebrate Hindu festivals at home like Diwali, Holi, but they spend a lot of time with Usha's parents and her grandmother.
"My grandmother is a devout Hindu. She prays every day, visit the temple regularly, does her puja. We spend a lot of time with her. We don't mark a lot of holidays at home, but what we do is spend time with my family," Usha said adding that she would like to throw a Holi party next year at home.
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