The European nobles and politicians arrived in the gardens of Palazzo Brancaccio in dresses and smoking, ready for aperitivi with the Catholic power brokers and pilgrims from America.
Spritzes at the large fountain progressed to starters in the palace, beef cheek cooked at a low temperature and served on orange potato velouté.
Brian Burch, the nominee of President Trump as ambassador of the Holy chair, eaten at a main table next to Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, the German aristocrat that Being friends with justice Samuel A. Alito JRand in addition to current and former members of Hard-Recht European political parties. One of them, Antonio Giordano, a member of the Italian parliament in the party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, welcomed the hundreds of guests in Rome, and discussed their shared “urgency to protect the family.”
“Only together can we effectively conquer the demographic winter,” he said, nodding to low birth rates and an urge for pronatalist policy.
After dessert, the guests followed the sound of live music a marble staircase in salons covered with tapestries and lit with chandeliers. Eyes popped into the vast mirror hall, designed in tribute to Versailles. A gilded ballroom had walls that extend 45 feet.
And then they was disgusted.
After all, it was the very first ‘America Week Ball’.
The Catholic Church was officially in a period of nine days of mourning after the funeral of Pope Francis. But in Rome, due to the event of earlier planning – or through divine provision, as some organizers believe – it also found what is called “America Week”.
An annual Elite Fund-Rising Week for Catholic Projects, America Week is largely led by influential conservative Catholic organizations that are united in their dedication to promoting traditional principles with regard to marriage, faith and family.
It started in connection with the Papal Foundation, a US -based charity that collects millions of dollars for Vatican projects through donations that start in seven digits.
This year, however, many participants came to Rome to raise money for new groups, hoping to replicate the success in Europe that conservative Catholics have had to expand their political and cultural influence in the United States.
While the cardinals spent their days in a meeting room in the Vatican, consider who should be their next pope, hundreds of American Catholics and their European allies mixed in private gala like the ball, and made exclusive pilgrims to some of the best palaces, hotels and churches of Rome.
Whatever happens in the conclave, these politically involved American conservatives expand their networks and institutions and invest in their long -term plans to shape the future of the church.
“The Europeans really want to learn about philanthropy, and how we do these things, how we help groups, how we collect money, how we define what a worthy apostolate is, what is not,” said Mark Randall, an executive director of Pontifical North American College, an American Seminaryy in Rome.
The ball was such new attempts to bring all these players together to network and build friendships. It was sponsored by a newly established organization, the Louis IX Foundation, which was formed by a trio Americans, including Mr. Burch. It is named after a 13th -century king of France and leader of the seventh Crusade, which mobilized Western military and financial aid to defend Christianity in the East.
“He was a great reformer and restorer of faith, in favor of many good things, just like we are trying to do,” said Mr. Randall, who helped to start the group.
Some American weekly events were canceled because of the death of Francis, and various church leaders refused invitations, referring to the mourning period. Others continued, especially because they were connected to the jubilee year – a rare Catholic tradition in which sins are forgiven – with leaders who pray for the coming conclave and hope for a Pope who would help promote their goals.
The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, a policy group that endorses the free market economy, has held a conference for entrepreneurs. The world’s largest Catholic news organization, EWTN, organized a dinner on the roof of the Waldorf Astoria. Film producers spoke with philanthropists about potential projects.
The NAPA Institute, a conservative Catholic -oriented network, led a “once in a life” velage for the jubilee year, in which guests stayed at the hotel De Russie and had a private dinner with cardinal James Harvey in the garden outside his hometown to honor his 50 years as a priest. Cardinal Harvey is one of the 10 American cardinals with a mood when choosing the next pope.
Francis’s papacy created a sense of urgency for many conservative American Catholics who believed that progressive values undermined the doctrine of the church and fueled their efforts to strengthen lay organizations to defend their faith. They were mainly concerned about Francis’ decision to allow priests to bless the relationships of the same sex.
“If the pope or someone exceeds the border with the Magisterium, you have to reduce,” said Tim Busch, president of the NAPA Institute, referring to the teaching material of the church about morality and faith. “You cannot take over the hierarchical control of the church, but you can be pronounced and hold the line on Magisterium.”
Pope Francis, he said, “ran straight up the red line, but didn’t cross it.”
Several Americans had private meetings with cardinals while they were in Rome, when the cardinals had breaks of their pre-Conclave meetings. Some prominent American conservatives consider Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary as a preferred choice for the next pope. He also has the support of the president of Hungary, Viktor Orban, and was supported by Cardinal George Pell from Australia, who died in 2023.
“He is what we need now,” said Mr. Busch. “We need someone who can clearly teach and be strong.”
The events attracted some of the most pronounced defenders of traditionalist Catholicism and right -wing politics, both in the US and in Europe, which reflect a growing alliance of Ascendant populism stimulated by Christian zeal.
At the ball were Americans such as Steve Cortes, a former Trump campaign adviser who works with a Catholic mood, as well as Europeans such as Margarita de la Pisa Carrión, a Spanish European Member of the Hard-Recht Political Party Vox.
One of the young men who was walen was Alexander Tschugguel, a Catholic convert from Austria who became a hero for many conservatives in 2019 when he stole fertility goddess, welcomed by Pope Francis during meetings with Amazon leaders. Definished about what he and other conservatives saw as an idol, Mr. Tschugguel traveled to Rome, took the images from a chapel at the dawn and threw them into the Tiber River. (Pope Francis apologized for the incident and the images were found.)
The mix of dedication, activism, money and socialization of the week works to create particularly strong ties, with a view to an extensive global reach for the long term. After the ball, while some those present stayed to Waltz, others put themselves on cigars and cocktails on strategy or flirting, or went to the nightly Eucharistic worship in the Chiesa di San Gioacchino in the Prati district.
The night before the ball, another group held a three -course reception in the Villa Agrippina Gran Meliá, a luxury hotel with a panoramic view of Rome. A chief finister for both dinner and the ball was Declan Ganley, an Irish businessman and prominent anti-abortion activist.
An influential and emerging group with a presence during dinner was the French Riviera Institute, started by MSGR. Dominique Rey, a French bishop who is a hero for many traditionalist Catholics and who resigned last year from his diocese in the Vatican.
The aim of the group is to organize a network of influential European leaders in all parts of society “to strengthen and intensify Christian renewal throughout Europe” in the hope of making considerable progress through the 2,000 -year existence of Christ’s resurrection in 2033. A similar group starts in Mexico.
Their hope is to repeat the success of the NAPA Institute, which has become a force for conservative Catholic political and cultural influence in the United States.
A month before the US presidential election, Mr. Burch went to Monaco for an invitation for entrepreneurs and leaders. He is co-founder of the Catholic mood, a conservative Catholic organization Mobilized voters for Mr. Trump in 2024.
Before he boarded his flight to Europe last fall, he said in an interview that the meeting of like -minded Catholic mood type brought groups that “imagined that the stars will join between European politics and the US,” because populism in Europe rose. He referred to the Planned ball in Rome and hoped to involve a future vice -president JD Vance.
Mr. Burch has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. He was already planning to attend the American week before he was nominated, and he attended the events as a pilgrim and private individual, not in an official capacity, according to organizers of events. During his confirmation hearing, he ensured the committee that “I fully understand the distinction between representation and diplomacy.”
Yet his hanging ambassadorship is a symbol of the rising power of conservative American Catholicism in the era after Francis. .
“It is clear that as soon as he has been erased, he will be a big, big player in the ball the following year and will go as an ambassador in the future,” said Mr. Randall.
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