Just five days before Christmas, President-elect Donald Trump announced he is appointing outspoken conservative and president of CatholicVote Brian Burch to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. 

The Vatican, also known as the "Holy See," is the center of the Roman Catholic Church, which is led by Pope Francis. There are roughly 52 million Catholics in the U.S. 

Burch, a father of nine, is an outspoken supporter of the president-elect. His organization, CatholicVote, a conservative activist group, issued its first presidential endorsement in Trump’s favor this year.

Catholic voters across the country swung massively toward Trump in the 2024 election, contributing to his surprise blowout victory on election night.

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In his post announcing the nomination, Trump credited Burch for his significant gains among Catholic voters in November, saying that Burch "represented me well during the last Election, having garnered more Catholic votes than any Presidential Candidate in History!"

"I am pleased to announce that Brian Burch will serve as the next United States Ambassador to the Holy See," said Trump. "Brian is a devout Catholic, a father of nine, and President of CatholicVote. He has received numerous awards, and demonstrated exceptional leadership, helping build one of the largest Catholic advocacy groups in the Country."

"Brian loves his Church and the United States - He will make us all proud," the president-elect said. "Congratulations to Brian, his wife Sara, and their incredible family!"

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Burch responded to his nomination by posting on X: "To God be the glory."

"Words cannot express my gratitude to all those that have helped me achieve this nomination," said Burch. "I am deeply honored and humbled to have been nominated by President Trump to serve as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See."

He thanked his family, the CatholicVote team and gave special credit to his recently deceased father who, he said, "taught me to love the Church and the blessings and responsibilities of being a citizen of the U.S."

"The Catholic Church is the largest and most important religious institution in the world, and its relationship to the United States is of vital importance," said Burch. "I am committed to working with leaders inside the Vatican and the new Administration to promote the dignity of all people and the common good. I look forward to the confirmation process and the opportunity to continue to serve my country and the Church."

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CatholicVote also responded to the announcement, saying the group is "immensely proud" of Burch and that his nomination "is a testament to the importance of Catholics to the United States."

"Under Brian's leadership, CatholicVote has launched influential campaigns exposing violence against Catholic churches and uncovering government overreach targeting Catholics and pro-life advocates," the group said. "Beyond his professional work, Brian is a devoted husband and father of nine children. His commitment to family life informs his passion for building a culture that upholds the dignity of every human person and supports the central role of families in society." 

The new Trump administration will have several Catholics in high-ranking positions, including Vice-president JD Vance, Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and border czar Tom Homan. 

The position of ambassador to the Holy See requires Senate confirmation.

President-elect Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, is being blasted for tattoos that some allege are symbols of White supremacy and Christian nationalism.

Hegseth, 44, is a former Fox News host and retired Army major who served in the infantry and was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Like many current and former military members, Hegseth has an array of tattoos with Christian and American symbolism.

One of the tattoos garnering the most attention is a symbol on Hegseth’s chest known as the "Jerusalem Cross," which consists of one large cross surrounded by four smaller crosses.

Hegseth, an evangelical Christian, has said that the cross is a symbol of his Christian faith, but his detractors have said the Jerusalem Cross is an indicator of extremism, White supremacist and Christian nationalist sentiment. Some have even mistaken it for the Nazi swastika.

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According to Hegseth, concern over the tattoo caused his leadership in the District of Columbia National Guard to pull him from a mission to guard the inauguration of President Biden and ultimately factored into his decision to retire from the military.

According to Father David Grenier, a Catholic priest and member of the religious order the Holy Land Franciscan Friars, which uses the Jerusalem Cross as its symbol, the cross originated in Eastern Christianity sometime in the fifth and sixth centuries and was later adopted by crusaders and the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1291.

The cross, which adorns Grenier’s habit, continues to be used by his order today. The cross is also the emblem of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Catholic order, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.

He explained to Fox News Digital that the Jerusalem Cross has a dual meaning of representing the five wounds of Christ’s crucifixion and the gospel being taken to every corner of the world. In the latter interpretation, he said that the large cross represents Jerusalem from which the gospels reach the north, south, east and west, which are represented by the four smaller crosses.

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While he said that he cannot speak to why Hegseth chose to tattoo the Jerusalem Cross on himself, he is not familiar with the cross being used to represent Christian supremacy sentiments. On the contrary, he said that the cross symbolizes the message of salvation being taken to all people. He also said that it is a fairly common practice for Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem to tattoo a Jerusalem Cross on themselves as a sign that they have visited the holy city.

"That was something that was happening, not necessarily for everyone, but for many people who traveled," he said. "And even today, when they go to the Holy Land to have the Jerusalem cross tattooed on their body."

One of those modern pilgrims with a Jerusalem Cross tattoo is Father Mike Schmitz, a podcaster, youth speaker and one of the most well-known Catholic priests in America.

In a video explaining his tattoo, Schmitz said that it serves as a reminder that "I never, ever, no matter what–I never want to be able to take off Jesus."

"If you are baptized, you’ve been clothed in Christ. You can’t take Him off. Same with me. I’ve been clothed in Christ in my baptism, and I can’t take him off, even if I wanted to. But there is some kind of expression of that. Now it’s on my arm," he said.

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Similarly, Jennifer Greenberg, an evangelical author and composer, told Fox News Digital that the Jerusalem Cross is also very common in evangelical circles.

She said she was "shocked" to see the cross being compared to a swastika online, which compelled her to respond in a viral X post.

"To see something so beautiful and so precious, such a symbol of rich Christian heritage equated with Nazism, you know, white supremacy, it was just really disgusting," she said.

According to Greenberg, the cross continues to be worn by pastors and to adorn Bibles and Christian books.

She also pointed out that Hegseth’s other controversial tattoos, "Deus Vult" and "Join or Die," are common Christian and American symbols and are not associated with extremism.

The "Join or Die" tattoo, which depicts a chopped-up snake, is a political cartoon first published in 1754 in Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia newspaper. The cartoon was intended to encourage the various American colonies to unite over a common cause and became one of the most well-known symbols of the Revolutionary War.

However, perhaps more controversial is the Deus Vult tattoo, Latin for "God wills it." This saying was a common battle cry during the Crusades, but, as Greenberg explained, it is also a common saying in Christianity indicating trust and abandonment of oneself to God’s providence.

"What they were saying is, ‘God, no matter what happens to me, if I die in battle, if I'm terribly injured, no matter what happens, may your will be done,’" she said. "I think it makes a lot of sense that someone like Pete Hegseth, being a veteran, would resonate with that kind of symbol because, as a veteran, as a soldier, he would have gone into battle. He would have walked between landmines, and this would have been a comforting thought for him. No matter what happens to me, God, let your will be done."