President Donald Trump chose Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican.
Gingrich is the president of both Gingrich Productions in Arlington, Va. and the charitable non-profit Gingrich Foundation and is a former Congressional aide.
She is also a long-time member of the choir at the Roman Catholic Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
She was influential in getting Newt to convert to Catholicism in 2009. She “created an environment where I could gradually think and evolve on the issue of faith,” he said in an interview. When Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States in 2008, Callista sang in the Shrine choir, which Newt recalled thinking that “here is where I belong.”
Callista worked with Newt on a documentary that was released in 2010, called “Nine Days That Changed the World.” It focused on Pope St. John Paul II’s 1979 pilgrimage to Poland when the former Soviet bloc country was under a communist government. It explained how the Pope invigorated the Catholic faith of the Polish people… and how the visit precipitated the fall of Communism.
Gingrich would follow Ken Hackett, the former head of Catholic Relief Services, who was appointed by President Obama. Gingrich will preside over differences between the White House and the Vatican on several issues, such as tension over immigration and refugees.
Meanwhile, there are areas of possible collaboration between the U.S. and the Holy See, including on human trafficking, peace in the Middle East, a solution to the worsening crisis in Venezuela, and efforts to alleviate global poverty.
The Evangelical-supported Trump administration isn’t slow to reach across the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power.
“The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.” The Great Controversy, page 588.
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Please pray for India and for Sijo and his ministry in India. Rising persecution is creating stress on the Hindu nation, especially for Christians. The government enacts repressive laws against Christianity. Persecution is especially difficult in the north where there are killings and torture of Christians, the spread of anti-Christian propaganda. India apparently intends to abolish Christianity in India by 2020.