U.S. ambassador describes July 4 dinner with Pope Leo XIV

Speaking with Italian media, Brian Burch said the informal evening showed a pontiff who is both personally at ease with his American roots and conscious of his universal mission.

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.

For Burch, differences of opinion over migration are not a serious problem. He said it is normal for leaders to have disagreements and that there will always be differences over how to reconcile U.S. policy with Catholic social teaching. Such differences, he said, do not mean relations must be difficult.

On the contrary, Burch said, there is much work the Holy See and the United States continue to do together, including on Cuba and peace in the Middle East. Looking at the past year and a half, he pointed to what he described as peace between Israel and Hamas, the removal of narco-terrorists, talks between Israel and Lebanon, cooperation among Arab states, conditions for real cooperation, the removal of the nuclear threat in Iran, and the removal of financing for terrorists. He also said there is much the two sides can do together for persecuted Christians.

In short, Burch said, the issue is not whether the pope and the president can become friends but whether there is a chance to achieve results together.

Asked what he took away from the dinner and what struck him most, Burch said there is great respect for the pope, whether one is Catholic or not. But then, he said, one meets a gentleman who is a human person like everyone else, someone who enjoys himself.

Above all, Burch said, the pope is highly informed. Leo had deep knowledge of everything they discussed, the ambassador said. When Burch asked how he manages that, the pope mentioned X, formerly Twitter, and a daily briefing he receives. Burch said he told Leo that surely those were not his only sources of information. The ambassador described the pope as a serious reader, very bright, and very well informed.

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.