Cardinals, cake and corndogs: Inside a complicated Vatican July 4

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — This year’s Independence Day party at the private residence of the United States’ ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, was a brightly colored spectacle mixing the patriotic with the sacred, as cardinals lined up to cut a star-spangled cake commemorating the 250 th anniversary of the U.S.

The event, which took place on June 26, happened to coincide with Pope Leo XIV’s summit of cardinals at the Vatican, allowing some of the U.S.-born prelates to enjoy a taste of home while in Rome. Cardinals who less than a year ago had helped to elect the first American pope — Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Cardinal Blase Cupich and Cardinal Timothy Dolan — joined to celebrate their country’s anniversary, as American hits played in the background and the smell of corndogs filled Rome’s hot summer evening air.

Among manicured gardens complete with a photo booth, an ice cream line and a 1947 Cadillac Series 70 used by Pope Pius XII, the crowd of U.S. expats and Vatican officials offered a heartwarming snapshot of the relationship between the Holy See and the global superpower. But beneath the bunting and patriotic nostalgia, the celebration belied a more…