The U.S. Senate on Saturday confirmed the co-founder of an anti-LGBTQ Catholic group to become the next U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

Senators confirmed former CatholicVote President Brian Burch by a 49-44 vote margin.

President Donald Trump late last year nominated Burch for the ambassadorship.

The Vatican’s tone towards LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under Pope Francis’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality and gender identity did not change.

Burch sharply criticized the Argentine-born pontiff’s 2023 decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples.

Francis died in April.

Pope Leo XIV in May reaffirmed Vatican doctrine that says marriage is between a man and a woman. The American-born pontiff, however, has said priests can continue to bless same-sex couple

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