From Reuters: 

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday that he had picked Brian Burch, the president of the political advocacy group CatholicVote, to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.

“Brian is a devout Catholic, a father of nine … He represented me well during the last Election,” Trump said on TruthSocial.

Burch’s bio, from CatholicVote: 

Brian Burch is the President and Co-Founder of CatholicVote (CV). The mission of CV is to inspire every Catholic in America to live out the truths of the Catholic faith in public life. The organization fulfills its mission by educating and mobilizing lay Catholics, including direct engagement in political, legislative and judicial advocacy.

Mr. Burch is the co-author of the America Catholic Daily Reader, a daily reader of notable American saints, sinners, heroes, and rogues that have shaped American public life. He is also the author of A New Catholic Moment: Donald Trump and the Politics of the Common Good published in 2020. In 2024, he edited a collection of essays titled For, God Country and Sanity: How Catholics Can Save America.

Mr. Burch appears regularly on Fox News, Newsmax, New Nation, BlazeTV, and has been covered in the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Catholic News Agency, National Catholic Register, NPR, and other national publications. He is also a regular guest on talk radio, and Catholic radio stations nationwide. His writing has been featured in Newsweek, Townhall, the Washington Times, National Review, RealClearPolitics, Daily Caller, and other notable publications.

Mr. Burch is a graduate of the University of Dallas with a degree in Political Philosophy. He also serves as President of the Board of Seton Montessori School in Villa Park, IL. He received the prestigious Cardinal O’Connor Defender of the Faith Award from Legatus International. He was also honored in 2019 with the St. Thomas More Award for Catholic Citizenship by Catholic Citizens of Illinois. Mr. Burch and his wife Sara have nine children and reside in the suburbs of Chicago.

UPDATE: Politico has more on Burch’s background:

Burch would be far from the first ambassador to the Holy See with a political background. Presidents from both parties have selected former elected officials who are practicing Catholics such as President Joe Biden picking Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana. Trump picked political activist Callista Gingrich in his first term. He also wouldn’t be the first to have ideological or theological disagreements with the church.

But none of the picks to helm the Vatican to date would come into the role with as much a digital record of criticizing church leadership. On social media, Burch has criticized Francis’ leadership and shared the writings of some right-wing clerics who are critical of him. In 2023, he insinuated that church leaders were collaborating with controversial U.S. law enforcement probes into parishes that celebrated the Catholic Mass in Latin, a practice that was phased out decades ago for liturgy in local languages.

Writing on X, Burch said he is “committed to working with leaders inside the Vatican and the new Administration to promote the dignity of all people and the common good.”

Catholic Vote has engaged in tactics that have prompted criticism from more progressive factions of the U.S. church. In 2020, the organization used “geofencing” to identify Catholic voters who attended Mass in swing states and target them with ads boosting Trump.

At the time, Burch defended geofencing as needed to “reach our fellow Catholics in the pews” and “ensure that our fellow Catholic voters get the facts and hear the truth — not the latest lies peddled by the media.”