This browser does not support the Video element.
CHICAGO - President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next ambassador to the Vatican is the head of a Catholic advocacy group who lives in the western suburbs.
Trump announced last week that he would nominate Brian Burch to be the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
Burch is the president and co-founder of the Catholic advocacy group CatholicVote and serves as the president of the board at Seton Montessori School in Villa Park, according to his biography. He lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife Sara and their nine children.
"Brian is a devout Catholic, a father of nine, and President of CatholicVote," Trump wrote in part on his social media platform. "He has received numerous awards, and demonstrated exceptional leadership, helping build one of the largest Catholic advocacy groups in the Country."
Burch said in a statement posted on CatholicVote's social media that he was "deeply honored and humbled to have been nominated."
He added, "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."
The U.S. Senate must confirm Burch's nomination.
The Catholic electorate
CatholicVote’s mission is to "inspire every Catholic in America to live out the truths of the Catholic faith in public life," according to the organization’s website. Burch writes and appears frequently on several national media outlets and wrote a book in 2020 titled "A New Catholic Moment: Donald Trump and the Politics of the Common Good."
A survey by The Associated Press of last November’s election found that 22% of voters identified as Catholic. Trump won 55% of that group.
In 2020, the Catholic vote was essentially split between Trump and President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.