Continuing their commitment to obstructing much of what President Trump has attempted to do to strengthen relationships with global leaders, the Democrats have now insulted millions of faithful Catholics by blocking the confirmation of Brian Burch, the President’s choice to serve as the Ambassador to the Vatican.

It was a strategic move on the part of the Democratic Senators to demand an unprecedented cloture vote on Burch, requiring three-fifths of the Senate to vote in favor of the nominee. The denial by the Senate prevented Burch from participating in Pope Leo XVI’s installation as pontiff on Sunday, May 18th, and has significantly impeded his ability to begin to establish a working relationship with the new pope.

But that was likely the intention all along — to prevent a relationship between the faithful Catholic Ambassador nominee and Pope Leo. Just as they have delayed and denied so many of President Trump’s choices for his Cabinet and other key positions in his administration, there is a core group of anti-Catholic Democrats — many of them pro-abortion Catholics — who are attempting to block the influence of a traditional Catholic like Burch. Burch has been courageous in his support for the Catholic magisterial teachings on respect for life, the inviolability of gender, and the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.

A faithful father of nine children who — like the Pontiff — hails from the suburbs of Chicago and actually believes in what the Catholic Church teaches.  Burch was the co-founder of CatholicVote in 2005, a political organization that backed President Trump for president and helped to garner more Catholic votes than any Presidential Candidate in history. Fifty-six percent of all Catholics voted for the President in 2024.  Unafraid to confront the anti-Catholic animus he has encountered on Capital Hill from both progressive Catholics and non-Catholics, Burch has remained steadfast in his support for what the Church teaches — and his encouragement of those lawmakers who are willing to courageously support important teachings on life, marriage and gender.

Supported by faithful Catholics, Burch is the perfect choice for those Catholics who believe that traditional Catholics should have a place at the table. Unlike during the Biden years when faithful Catholic voices were marginalized, and even worse, during the Obama presidency when faithful Catholic journalists and leaders like Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, were subjected to politically motivated audits by the IRS because of their willingness to expose the contraception mandate and taxpayer-paid abortion loophole in the Affordable Care Act, Burch offers the best hope for faithful voices to be heard both at the Vatican and on Capital Hill.

Burch is reviled by the progressive media, including the New York Times, which warned that Burch is part of a group of “politically engaged American conservatives” who are expanding their networks and institutions and investing in their long-term plans to shape the church’s future. For The Times, Burch’s “pending ambassadorship is a symbol of the rising strength of the conservative American Catholicism in the post-Francis era.”  The left-wing National Catholic Reporter  once described CatholicVote as “peddling extreme right-wing politics in religious drag.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Burch has consistently defended the papacy against attacks from both the left and the right. He was especially strong in his criticisms of the ultra-conservative Catholic sedevacantists, who maintained that Pope Francis was an “illegitimate” pope.  Striving for unity within the Church, Brian Burch and CatholicVote celebrated the election of Pope Francis in 2015, and although he may have tried to clarify some of the more ambiguous and confusing papal statements given by Pope Francis over the years, his respect for the papacy has never wavered.

Although Burch’s absence was a missed opportunity for faithful Catholics to be represented by their Ambassador at the Inaugural Mass, the current Catholic Vice-President J.D. Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio provided a strong Catholic presence from the Trump Administration. Wearing the necktie that was given to him by Pope Francis during his Easter Sunday visit to the Vatican, Vance handed Pope Leo a letter from President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump inviting the pontiff to visit the United States “as soon as he possibly can.”

According to a statement released by the Holy See, Pope Leo had a private audience with Vance and Rubio, and their spouses on Monday morning (May 19th) to discuss “religious freedom and cooperation between church and state.”  The Holy See reported that the 45 minute meeting was “cordial … There was also an exchange of views on current international issues with a shared call for respect for humanitarian and international law in conflict zones and support for negotiated solutions among the parties involved.”

While some in the media have tried to drive a wedge between the Trump administration and the new pontiff — such as the Daily Beast’s false claim that “Pope Leo XIV took a subtle dig at the Trump administration during his first homily” — the truth is that the pope never referred to President Trump. Rather, Pope Leo lamented that there was “too much discord, and too many wounds.