Pope Leo XIV still has a Peruvian credit card, wakes in the middle of the night and checks soccer results, follows the Chicago White Sox, and uses a cellphone.
He is also, according to Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, a pope keenly aware of his role as pastor of the universal Church, careful not to give the impression of being merely an American pope and frustrated that his actions are sometimes interpreted as anti-Trump or anti-U.S. gestures.
Burch offered that personal portrait of the Holy Father in a conversation with a small group of Italian journalists about the historic July 4 dinner he hosted for Leo at Villa Richardson, the U.S. ambassador’s residence.
The pope came in person to the residence, prayed with Burch’s family, and shared a meal that included American charcuterie, watermelon salad, Chicago-style hot dogs, apple pie, and gelato. According to Burch, Leo approved of the menu. The evening was informal rather than bilateral: The pope arrived without secretaries, accompanied only by two Vatican gendarmes.
Burch said he had wanted to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States by inviting the first U.S.-born pope in history to dinner. The invitation was sent about two months ago, and confirmation came about one month ago, the ambassador said.
The dinner took place on the same day Leo made a brief visit to Lampedusa, a trip that some had interpreted as a symbolic gesture aimed against the Trump administration. Burch said the pope rejected that interpretation in their conversation.
The ambassador said the idea was to create an occasion to celebrate July 4. He noted that when Vice President JD Vance visited the pope for the Mass inaugurating his pontificate, Vance also invited Leo to visit the United States. While awaiting such a visit, Burch said, the embassy wanted to create a moment of celebration, and the pope’s acceptance of the invitation was received with gratitude and joy.
Burch stressed that the dinner at his residence should not be understood as an effort to resolve major political questions. Rather, he said, it was an extraordinary sign of the pope’s affinity with and warm closeness to the United States.
The pope arrived at about 7:30 p.m., according to the ambassador. He posed for a photo with Burch’s family, gave them his blessing, and joined them for an aperitif. Burch said he and Leo, both from Chicago, spoke about the city and the many friends they have in common.
After dinner, Burch also had time to speak privately with the pope in the garden. The ambassador said they discussed a wide range of subjects. Before leaving the embassy at about 10 p.m., the pope sang the patriotic song “God Bless America” and signed several baseballs, marking each one with the date.
Burch said Leo was relaxed and that the two laughed about many things. He added that people in the Church and in the world sometimes hold only an image of the pope and forget that the pope is also a man like everyone else.
The pope told Burch he had recently spent a sleepless night and ended up watching the Argentina-Cape Verde match. He also spoke about the White Sox and about his vocation, including why he chose to become a missionary priest.
Burch said Leo told him that he loves the United States, where he was born, and has great affection for the country, but he also wants to be careful not to appear too favorable or too close to the United States. The ambassador said the pope made the same point when Burch presented his credentials.
The Church in the United States is vibrant and growing, Burch said, but it is not the only place where the Church is present, and Leo is aware of the need not to appear too American.
Burch said there is also some hesitation regarding a possible papal trip to the United States. That hesitation, he said, is not because of hostility toward the president but because of the need to choose the right moment and to situate such a visit after a number of trips that demonstrate the pope’s apostolic commitment.
The ambassador said Leo also spoke about his frustration with the way every papal gesture can be attacked or interpreted through the lens of the United States. Burch said the pope’s July 4 visit to Lampedusa was not intended as an attack on the United States.
According to Burch, the pope’s role is to be pastor of the world and to point to the global challenges of migration, which is not only a U.S. issue. Through the Lampedusa visit, Burch said, Leo appealed to humanity and asked leaders to focus on migrants during a difficult moment.
The ambassador said relations between the Holy See and the United States are marked by a strong desire for cooperation. He added that his conversation with the pope did not delve deeply into areas of disagreement.
Burch noted that the Holy See supports nuclear nonproliferation, is attentive to the situation in Cuba, wants peace between Russia and Ukraine, and has opposed the exploitation of the Venezuelan people. On migration, he said, there is generally a broad sense of the need for processes through which nations can manage migration in a safe, orderly, and legal way.
The pope respects that balance, Burch said, because he understands that when tension arises, resolving that tension is the responsibility of nations.
According to the ambassador, the main differences concern how to reach shared goals: how to build peace in the Middle East, how to fight narco-trafficking in Central America, and how to protect people facing the challenges of mass migration. Burch characterized these as prudential differences.
Burch acknowledged that Leo and President Donald Trump have not yet spoken. He said Trump has not spoken with many leaders and that, when a conversation is necessary, he expects they will speak. He added that the pope does not simply pick up the phone to discuss politics with world leaders.
Migration remains one area of difference. Burch said the pope’s message in Lampedusa is not inconsistent with the U.S. view of migration. The United States, he said, has always set rules and removed people who did not respect them, while the Trump administration is responding to a situation in which millions of people have entered outside the legal framework.
Burch said the pope does not argue that rules should be set aside in order to welcome migrants. Rather, he said, Leo asks people to look toward an ideal in which they are as welcoming as possible. The pope, Burch said, speaks as universal pastor of the Church and not as someone proposing a specific political implementation….
“P.R.” and that’s all.
Why the cynicism?
Pope St. John Paul II always cherished his native Poland. And Pope Benedict XVI always cherished his German and Bavarian homeland. Not sure about Pope Francis’ feelings about Argentina, his native country. Anyway, I think that Pope Leo should really support American Catholics, and show them that he loves them, his “sheep” and cherishes America, his homeland. Pope Benedict loved his Germany, despite Hitler’s evils, and being forced to fight on the “wrong side” in WWII. So Pope Leo should praise America, praise the good things that American Catholics are doing, and be proud of us all! No more leftist liberal “attitude problems.” Especially if he thinks America is a wonderful place for immigrants. Lead your country to Christ, Pope Leo.
The pope should approve of the death penalty for Charlie Kirk’s assassin. The evidence presented in court today proves guilt, premeditation, and lack of remorse. A civilized and just society executes heinous murderers.
The horrific killer, Charles Manson, was sentenced to death for his Satanic crimes in 1971. But in 1972, the California Supreme Court outlawed capital punishment. So Manson was then sentenced to life in prison. What if this horrific killer had escaped from prison, or some deranged, leftist Democrats in political offices, had put him on a parole list? Thank God, he was denied parole 12 times, with maximum deferment in parole hearings. He finally died in prison, in 2017. This situation causes terrible concern for our society. This was an extremely deranged, dangerous killer! His death sentence should have been promptly carried out soon after it was given.
What recent popes and prelates fail to recognize, is that since the extremely rebellious, violent, filthy 1960s era, and extremely permissive post-Conciliar Catholic era– our society and our Church are full of rebellion, crime, and sin. Our children are no longer safe, playing unsupervised, after school, in our neighborhoods, as they once did. Crime and sin lurk everywhere! According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, an estimated 77 million American adults– nearly one in three!– have a criminal record. This includes everything from minor arrests and misdemeanor charges, to felony convictions. Nearly half– 45%– of all Americans have had at least one family member incarcerated for at least one night. What religious leaders and lawmakers need to understand, is that a society desperately needs a firm teaching and firm handling of crime and sin. No babyish permissiveness, moral relativity, or liberal leftist hippie garbage. No permissive sexual sins. Traditional man/woman marriage and family, Judeo-Christian, Biblically-based Morality, and safety for children and for all in our communities, is a big responsibility. When you have that, you will also have a happier, much healthier, emotionally stable and well population. And much less crime and sin.
It is only in a very good, hard-working, virtuous, God-worshipping society, of caring, selfless servants and servant leaders, with harmony, neighborliness and friendship among all, that the religious and civic leaders will find very little crime and sin– and very little need to even consider the Death Penalty. That is the “better, more enlightened society” that Pope St. John Paul II should have written about, in his 1995 “Evangelium Vitae”— and tried to help create, with excellent, traditional Church teaching and leadership. Not post-Conciliar destructive, liberal permissiveness.