Overview

• Brian Burch formally presented his diplomatic credentials to Pope Leo at the Apostolic Palace on Sept. 13.
• He brought a Portillo's chocolate cake topped with a red birthday sign as the pope turns 70 on Sunday.
• Handout video showed a light exchange as Burch said, “Portillo’s sent it to you,” and the pope replied, “And you brought it.”
• Burch, a right-leaning Catholic, had often criticized Pope Francis’s pastoral approach to LGBTQ Catholics as causing “massive confusion.”
• A papal advisor had suggested last year that the Vatican might reject Burch’s nomination, but the Holy See granted accreditation.