Senate Confirms Brian Burch as U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican

In a major win for faith-based diplomacy and traditional values, the U.S. Senate has officially confirmed Brian Burch a leading Catholic voice and longtime conservative activist as the next American ambassador to the Vatican.

The vote came down on Saturday in a narrow 49-44 party-line decision, cementing President Donald Trump’s pick for one of the most influential religious diplomatic posts in the world.

Burch, president of CatholicVote, has been a strong and consistent advocate for religious liberty, family values, and the role of faith in public life. As the head of one of the nation’s largest Catholic advocacy organizations, he played a key role in energizing the Catholic base for Trump in both 2020 and 2024.

“The Catholic Church is the largest and most important religious institution in the world, and its relationship to the United States is of vital importance,” Burch said in a statement following his confirmation.

“I am committed to working with leaders inside the Vatican and the Trump administration to promote the dignity of all people and the common good.”

President Trump, who nominated Burch in December, offered praise for his pick at the time “Brian is a devout Catholic, a father of nine, and President of CatholicVote. He represented me well during the last election, having garnered more Catholic votes than any presidential candidate in history... He will make us all proud.”

And there’s no doubt Burch has earned it. Under his leadership, CatholicVote’s political action committee spent over $1 million in the 2024 election cycle and offered Trump a key early endorsement during the primaries. His unapologetic stance on defending religious freedoms and confronting the rising hostility toward people of faith particularly under Democrat-led agencies like the FBI has made him a respected figure in both religious and political circles.

“I don’t know what it is with Catholics, but the FBI is going after Catholics,” Trump said during a rally earlier this year. “Why would any Catholic vote for a Democrat?”

Burch’s confirmation comes at a pivotal moment. As secularism grows and religious persecution spreads globally, the Vatican remains one of the few institutions standing firm on core moral issues. In his April testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Burch made clear that his mission in Rome will be about more than photo ops and protocol.

“The relationship between the United States and the Vatican transcends traditional diplomacy,” he said. “It’s rooted in our shared commitments to religious freedom, human dignity, global peace, and justice.”

“The moral witness of the Holy See, together with its global influence, makes it a key partner for an array of U.S. interests.”

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See was first established in 1984 under President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II a bold act of Cold War diplomacy that helped end Soviet communism. Now, with authoritarian regimes and anti-Christian ideologies rising again, the alliance is more crucial than ever.

Burch’s confirmation is not just a political victory it’s a signal to millions of American Catholics and religious conservatives around the world that their values still have a place at the table.

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