Trump names CatholicVote's Brian Burch as next Holy See ambassador

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 20 announced his intention to appoint Brian Burch, currently the president of CatholicVote, as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.

The role is intended to represent the U.S. government’s positions on many issues to the Holy See in its capacity as a nation-state in diplomatic efforts.

“I am pleased to announce that Brian Burch will serve as the next United States Ambassador to the Holy See,” Trump said in a post on his social media website, Truth Social. “Brian is a devout Catholic, a father of nine, and President of CatholicVote. He has received numerous awards, and demonstrated exceptional leadership, helping build one of the largest Catholic advocacy groups in the Country.”

Trump said Burch “represented me well during the last Election, having garnered more Catholic votes than any Presidential Candidate in History!”

Early data from the Nov. 5 election suggests that Catholic voters swung back to support Trump after narrowly supporting President Joe Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, in 2020. But exit polls showed Catholics supported Trump in 2024 by a 20-point margin. Catholics accounted for one in five U.S. voters. Many of the key swing states in the Rust Belt and Southwest have significant Catholic populations.

“Brian loves his Church and the United States – He will make us all proud,” Trump added. “Congratulations to Brian, his wife Sara, and their incredible family!”

CatholicVote, a right-leaning political advocacy organization that endorsed Trump’s presidential bid, is among several such political advocacy groups that use the word “Catholic” in their names and heavily leans on Catholic imagery, despite not being official church entities. OSV News previously reported in November that this appropriation of the word “Catholic” by political advocacy groups may exploit what one canon law scholar described as a “blind spot” in canon law, the Catholic Church’s principal legislative code.

At the time, a CatholicVote representative told OSV News that the group had been given approval by the Diocese of Madison’s previous bishop to use the name “Catholic.” However, a statement from the diocese to OSV News stated that while the group operated with the previous ordinary’s tacit approval, “no permission was ever granted in the Diocese of Madison to use ‘Catholic’ in CatholicVote’s name,” including under the current ordinary, Bishop Donald J. Hying. Other U.S. bishops, in whose dioceses parts of CatholicVote are located, affirmed they had not given permission either.

In a series of posts on the social media platform X, Burch thanked Trump for the announcement and said, “I am committed to working with leaders inside the Vatican and the new Administration to promote the dignity of all people and the common good.”

“I look forward to the confirmation process and the opportunity to continue to serve my country and the Church,” Burch added. “To God be the glory.”