“The United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”
This story is getting wide circulation in a variety of places.
Here’s The New Republic’s account:
Relations between the U.S. and the Catholic Church have not been the same since January, when senior U.S. defense officials shared an abrasive message with a Vatican official.
Days after Pope Leo XIV delivered his State of the World speech, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s U.S. representative, to a closed-door Pentagon meeting for a bitter lecture.
“The United States,” Colby said, according to a blistering new report by The Free Press, “has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”
One U.S. official present at the meeting brought up the Avignon papacy, a period in the 14th century in which the French monarchy bent the Catholic Church into submission, ordering an attack on Pope Boniface VIII that led to his downfall and subsequent death and forcing the papacy to relocate from Rome to Avignon, a region inside France.
The Trump administration had taken issue with the pope’s critique of its militaristic proclivities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top Pentagon officials were particularly aggrieved by portions of Leo’s January 9 speech in which the pope argued that “a diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force,” and that “war is back in vogue, and a zeal for war is spreading.”
The pope’s address was dissected line by line and interpreted as a hostile message toward the administration, reported Letters from Leo Substack writer Christopher Hale….
… The Vatican was so alarmed by the Pentagon’s warning that Pope Leo cancelled his plans to visit the U.S. later in the year, reported Hale, who noted that “many in the Vatican saw the Pentagon’s reference to an Avignon papacy as a threat to use military force against the Holy See…”
…The White House has dismissed the entire account, writing in a statement to reporter Barbara Starr that “the Free Press’s characterization of the meeting is highly exaggerated and distorted.”
Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday was confronted on Wednesday with a recent report that the Pentagon threatened the Vatican with military force.
A Monday report from The Free Press detailed the rocky relationship between President Donald Trump’s White House and Pope Leo XIV, the Holy See’s first U.S.-born Pope. According to the report, the Pentagon invited the Holy See ambassador to the U.S., Cardinal Christophe Pierre, for a meeting in response to a recent speech by the Pope.
During that meeting, U.S. officials reportedly complained about the speech and took exception to Pope Leo’s indirect shots at the president. One of those officials, the report continued, even referenced the Avignon Papacy of the 14th century — a period largely defined by the French Crown imposing its will to influence the Catholic Church.
While speaking to the media in Budapest, Hungary, Vance was asked by a reporter if the story was “correct.” Vance began by stating he didn’t know who Pierre was. When he was informed that Pierre was the former Holy See ambassador, that appeared to jog his memory.
“Oh, OK, OK, I’ve met him before,” Vance continued. “Sorry, I just didn’t remember the name. I’ve never seen this reporting. I’d like to actually talk to Cardinal Christophe Pierre, and frankly, to our people, to figure out what actually happened. I think it’s always a bad idea to offer an opinion on stories that are unconfirmed and uncorroborated, so I’m not going to do that.”
UPDATE II: Military.com had this response from the Pentagon:
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly did not directly remark on the reports and claims therein, instead touting the Trump administration’s accomplishments.
“All of President Trump’s foreign policy actions have made the world safer, more stable, and more prosperous,” Kelly told Military.com. “Catholic Americans resoundingly supported President Trump in 2024, and the president’s administration has a positive relationship with the Vatican—which was strengthened when Vice President [JD] Vance attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass last year.
“The president has done more than any of his predecessors to save lives and resolve global conflicts. And following the completion of his military objectives in Iran, he is hopeful that the agreement under discussion can lead to a lasting peace in the Middle East.”
There has been additional reactions from both the Vatican and the Pentagon. Read it here.