Carolina Bellocq
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, has gifted American President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance with a baseball.
It's not just any baseball. It bears the signature of Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope. The roman pontiff is also a big fan of the American pastime.
BRIAN BURCH
US Ambassador to the Holy See
“Then we got up together and we walked down the hall and walked outside. And we had some baseballs, that we had official Major League baseballs that we had printed with “freedom 250” to mark the anniversary. And I asked him if he would sign a baseball or two for the president and the vice president. And he began signing it and then he stopped and said:'We should add the date', and he added '7-4-26,' the 250 anniversary of the United States.
For him to note that, I thought, we all kind of paused and realized: he, too, was celebrating with us”.
Burch and his family shared an intimate dinner with the pope to celebrate the 4th of July. They celebrated the 250th anniversary of America's independence with a typical American style gathering. It featured traditional foods, decorations and sparklers to top it all off.
The pope arrived alone, leaving his security detail outside. Inside, the dinner felt typically American: just another family gathered around the table with their parish priest.
It was the first time a pope had attended a dinner of this kind, and the ambassador saw the moment as both moving and historic.
BRIAN BURCH
US Ambassador to the Holy See
“Certainly, no ambassador has ever, in recent memory, hosted a pope for dinner. But no pope has ever held an American flag, and saying 'God Bless America,' who was born in America. And to me, I thought, that was such a symbolic but also significant gesture of the closeness that he feels to the United States. But also his personal character and his willingness to be a part of a family to celebrate, for us, which is one of the most important holidays for our country.
The diplomat left with photos to remember the occasion, along with one of these ornaments: a small memento from a pope who understands the historic nature of his presidency and knows that, one day, it may find a place in a U.S. presidential library.
