“For me it’s a honor let the Americans attack me.” This phrase, pronounced five years ago on the flight that took him to Mozambique, is emblematic to describe the difficult relations between the Pope and the United States. In almost twelve years of pontificate, there has been no lack of tension between Washington and the first Latin American Pontiff. In particular, cohabitation was problematic in the years of the first Trump administration. Now that the tycoon has won the elections again, also supported by the conservative Catholic vote, it is likely that things will not improve. A clue to the policy that the new US president will have towards the Catholic world was seen with the announcement of the nomination of Ambassador to the Holy See of Brian Burch.
The nomination
Trump announced on Truth his intention to appoint Brian Burch as future US ambassador to the Holy See. The man is president of CatholicVote, an association of American lay people created to defend the teachings of the Catholic Church and which carries out lobbying activities on members of Congress to avoid the approval of laws considered anti-Catholic. The president-elect praised Burch, calling him “a devout Catholic and father of nine children”, also praising his commitment to the defense of human rights. Trump had words of gratitude for him, claiming that he was the presidential candidate most voted by Catholics thanks also to Burch’s contribution.
Conservative trend
CatholicVote it is a conservative-oriented association and was strongly criticized during the years of the outgoing administration Joe Biden for the inconsistency of his policies with the proclaimed Catholic faith. One of the theses most raised by the association was that according to which the non-Catholic Trump would have shown more respect for the Church than the Catholic Biden. CatholicVote it also gave voice to positions against the document Trust Supplicans with which Francis opened the blessing of same-sex couples. The association has shown in several public statements that it does not appreciate the synodal line of the current pontificate and also gave space to Doubtful which on two occasions some cardinals sent to the Pope.
US-Holy See relations
The conservative Catholic world he supported Trump even in the years of the “crossing the desert” following January 6, 2021 and had no doubts about who to side with in this year’s presidential elections. Burch is certainly an expression of this community which the newly elected president recognized for the role played in his electoral campaign. If he arrives in Rome, the new ambassador will not find a easy climate inside the Sacred Walls. When asked to choose between Trump and Harris, Francis invited American Catholics to opt for the “lesser evil”, claiming that both candidates were anti-life. In the final stages of the first Trump administration, relations with the Holy See had become heated after the attack on Mike Pompeo to the signing of the agreement on the appointment of bishops with the People’s Republic of China. In October 2020, the Secretariat of State had not hidden its discontent also with the organization of a symposium on religious freedom wanted in Rome by the then US ambassador to the Holy See Callista Gingrich with the presence of Mike Pomeo to whom Francis had denied an audience due to electoral proximity.
Things do not seem destined to improve with the new administration after the appointment of an ambassador who comes from the associations most determined to defend the traditional teachings of the doctrine from the overtures of progressive Catholicism.