The next United States Ambassador after the Vatican has an unprecedented particularity: it is a virulent antipape. Father of 9 children, responsible for Catholicvote.orga pro-Trump group, Brian Burch has never ceased to openly criticize the sovereign Pontiff François whom he considers a dangerous leftist. He attacks him on his decision to bless the homosexual unions and criticizes him for his “tendencies to revenge and punishment”, because he has dismissed the bishop of Texas Joseph Strickland, from his functions, which called into question the authority of Rome. Donald Trump thus justifies his choice: Brian Burch “represented me well during the last election,” he explains, adding that he helped him win “more Catholic votes than any president of ‘History”.
“It is an unusual profile for an ambassador, estimates Massimo Faggioli, specialist in the history of the Church at Villanova University (Pennsylvania). Brian Burch is an activist, an agitator, who has openly taken very critical positions and irreverent vis-à-vis Pope Francis. It reflects the rise and growing influence of conservative Catholics in American political life. Admittedly, the religious right in the United States remains dominated by the evangelicals, a current of Protestantism. But since John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s victory in the 1960 presidential election, Catholics, who represent only 20 % of the population, retain a certain influence.
The seat of the American episcopal conference
In Washington, they have a storefront. In addition to the Basilica of Immaculate Conception, the largest church in the country, there is the seat of the American episcopal conference, which brings together the prelates of the United States, several universities including Georgetown University, prestigious Jesuit campus, and Heritage Foundation , the very conservative circle of republican reflection founded in 1973 by two Catholics. This Think Tank is owed to the 2025 project, a tailor -made reform program for the Trump administration. Finally, the American capital houses the very powerful Catholic Information Center, on K Street, run by Opus Dei, an ultra-conservative organization very well introduced in the capital.
Catholics are also numerous in the alleys of power. They represent a quarter of the congress and five of the nine judges of the Supreme Court. A sixth, Neil Gorsuch, converted to Protestantism. Thanks to them, the highest judicial body eliminated constitutional right to abortion in 2022. A huge victory for Catholics who led a crusade against abortion long before the Protestants made their workhorse in the 1970s.
In recent years, the fundamentalist current, the only objective of which is to return to before Vatican II, has taken an increasing influence within the Republican Party. He is also well represented in the entourage of Donald Trump, from a presbyterian family, notably by Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway, two relatives. The “Cathos” are also well represented in his administration: there are a dozen at the head of foreign affairs, health, education, transport, work … the director of the CIA and the ambassador to the ‘Onu are also and of course JD Vance, the vice-president, a recent convert. As for Pete Hegseth, in charge of the Pentagon, he was tattooed, even if he is evangelical, “God wants it”, the motto of the Crusaders, a rallying cry of white nationalists.
“Conservative Catholics are organized, very well funded, and disseminate their views by all kinds of publications, prayer apps as well as a network of universities, schools …”, continues Professor Faggioli. And they use sophisticated techniques. Catholicvote, the Brian Burch group, for example used geolocation data in 2020 through mobile phones to identify the voters who went to mass and target them to have them republican. It also actively operates social networks and disseminates a daily newsletter for more than 300,000 people. Successfully. Donald Trump won 59 % of Catholic votes, according to surveys at the exit of the ballot boxes, 20 points more than Kamala Harris. In 2020, they voted 52 % for Joe Biden.
But the power of traditionalist environments is mainly based on a constellation of groups financed by large donors in the most total opacity. There is Legatus (launched by the Multimillionaire founder of Domino’s Pizza) and the Acton Institute, both supporters of pure and hard economic liberalism; The Knights of Columbus, a charitable association which also subsidizes seminars against gay and media marriage. “It is a fairly specific phenomenon in the United States, due to the fact that in politics, there are many organizations based on volunteering and large amounts of money,” explains Richard Wood, President of the Institute Catholic studies at University of Southern California. “What is new, he adds, is a deliberate strategy for forty years to reshape the Church and the government around libertarian priorities by pushing for example to tax cuts for the rich.” According to him, these groups took advantage of “the loss of authority of the Conference of American Bishops”, stuck in particular in multiple sex scandals, to gain influence.
The fine flower of conservative Catholics
One of the most active is the Napa Institute, founded by Timothy Busch, a lawyer, boss of a vineyard and a hotel group. Every summer, in the Napa Valley, he organizes in one of his palaces a conference which brings together, between wine tastings and gourmet meals, the fine flower of conservative Catholics – all very fortunate to judge by the price of the tick ‘entrance. He welcomed several ecclesiastics little in the smell of holiness in Rome, including Bishop Joseph Strickland, who claimed that Pope Francis “knew” the faith and participated in a demonstration of Trumpists in 2020 to have the ballot invalidate. He ended up being dismissed. In March 2017, the Napa Institute sponsored a seminar in the Trump Hotel in Washington, where members of the clergy found themselves, elected officials, a judge at the Supreme Court … and if, in his speech, Timothy Busch recognized that The policies of the president with regard to migrants were not exactly in line with the principles of the Church, he hastened to add that “this administration represents freedom. The personality of the president is perhaps Not to be to our taste, but it may be the only one capable of changing the government and the status quo. “
And to advance their cause. A big success of these traditionalist networks is due to Leonard Leo, one of his most powerful figures. This Italian immigrant grandson with cozy manners is very linked, like Timothy Busch, with opus dei. He has long been one of the leaders of the Federalist Society, an organization of right -wing lawyers. It is largely to him that we owe the appointments of three ultra-conservative judges to the Supreme Court (including two Catholics) and dozens of others in federal courses. Today, he is at the heart of a nebula of organizations that finance behind the scenes all kinds of political causes, with the more or less unofficial support of certain prelates. So much so that last year, the Pope criticized “the very strong reactionary attitude” in the United States. “Instead of living by doctrine […]they live through ideology. “
In recent years has emerged within the Republican Party a new current of which JD Vance is near, which advocates more “social” Catholicism. The vice-president denounces the market economy and the rejection of state interventionism-two pillars of party orthodoxy-which have aggravated inequalities. He militates for a family -centered policy and workers through tax credits to encourage couples for example to have affordable children and crèches. During the campaign, JD Vance came to support automotive workers on strike in Ohio. The admitted objective of this current is to take the lead in institutions, including universities, to replace the “elites” and set up its vision of the “common good”. The model is Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister. He made “smart decisions”, such as subsidies to future parents and university control, said the vice-president. In 2021, he said in an interview: “We really have to be ready to do anything when it comes to exercising power.”
Views that coincide with Trumpist populism. The president says he is in favor of a “significant” expansion of tax credits for families and spoke of the idea of free in vitro fertilization. “His program has more to do with conservatism than the doctrine of the Church, but he seduces Catholics,” observes John Gizzi, editorialist of the right chain Newsmax, very introduced in traditionalist circles. In the meantime, the priority of the administration seems rather to reduce taxes for high income and to expel millions of undocumented migrants. This may cause tensions. Timothy Broglio, the president of the Conference of Bishops, however little suspicious of sympathies on the left, described as “deeply disturbing”, Donald Trump’s decrees on the treatment of migrants, refugees, international aid … is not the only one. On the day of the inauguration, Mariann Budde, the episcopalian bishop of Washington urged the president in his sermon to have “compassion” and recalled that “the vast majority of migrants are not outlaws” . What the latter did not appreciate.
After the announcement of the choice of Brian Burch as an ambassador, the pope immediately reacted by appointing the bishop of San Diego, Robert Mcelroy, as Archbishop of Washington, one of the most important positions in the United States. “He is an intellectual, a thinker who speaks in favor of migrants, the rights of gays … will he emit public criticism or work discreetly?” wonders Professor Faggioli. For John Gizzi, the answer is clear: “He will create a lot of wars within the Church.”
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