Trump's Vatican ambassador pick defends foreign aid cuts at confirmation hearing

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- Brian Burch, President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, defended the Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid at a Senate hearing April 8 on his nomination.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee considered Burch's nomination, as well as nominees for ambassadors to Chile and Croatia. The role to which Burch is nominated 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.

Burch is president of CatholicVote, a right-leaning political advocacy organization that endorsed Trump's presidential bid and mobilized Catholics to support him. OSV News found the group, which claims to adhere to the church's magisterium, does not have ongoing permission to use "Catholic" in their name from any of the bishops in whose dioceses the organization maintains an official presence.

During the hearing, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the committee, questioned Burch about the Trump administration's move to dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development and its impact on Catholic nongovernmental organizations.

Shaheen cited objections to those cuts from Caritas Internationalis -- the Catholic Church's global federation of more than 160 humanitarian organizations -- which argued "stopping USAID abruptly will kill millions of people and condemn hundreds of millions more to lives of dehumanising poverty."

Burch acknowledged the "challenging" scenario presented by the cuts, but said he supports the administration's move, arguing it is addressing "a long overdue problem within some of our foreign aid."

"Millions, if not billions, of our dollars have been going to places around the world that are not aligned with (the) United States' interests," he said.

Elsewhere in the hearing, Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., questioned Burch on the Vatican's provisional agreement with China related to the appointment of bishops.

"It's important for the Holy See to maintain a posture of pressure, and of applying pressure to the Chinese government around their human rights abuses, particularly their persecution of religious minorities, including Catholics," Burch said in response.

Burch added he would encourage the Vatican "to resist the idea that a foreign government has any role whatsoever in choosing the leadership of a private religious institution."

"I do not believe the church should cede or surrender to any government, China or otherwise, the selection of their bishops," he said.

In his testimony, Burch called the relationship between the U.S. and the Holy See "both unique and vital," and pledged to deepen that bond.

"It transcends traditional diplomacy, rooted instead in our shared commitments to religious freedom, human dignity, global peace, and justice," he said. "The Holy See, as the governing body of the Catholic Church, plays a critical and influential role in international affairs. We can and we must continue our strong partnership, while advancing our mutual interests in addressing an array of global challenges, including working to resolve war and conflict in multiple regions around the globe, religious persecution, the exploitation of the poor and vulnerable, the scourge of human trafficking, and the defense and promotion of human dignity and prosperity."

Burch's nomination to the role requires Senate confirmation. It was not immediately clear when his nomination would be considered by the full chamber.