The Pentagon and White House are refuting reports that high-level U.S. defense officials told Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican to take the United States’ “side” when it comes to matters of military influence and Western Hemisphere oversight.
Allegations stem from interactions that originated in January, according to the Free Press, which reported that Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby allegedly summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s ambassador to Washington, D.C., to deliver a “bitter lecture” during a closed‑door meeting characterized as tense.
Colby purportedly told Pierre that “the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world,” adding: “The Catholic Church had better take its side.”
On Wednesday, independent journalist Christopher Hale on his Letters From Leo webpage confirmed that the meeting took place, adding “that some Vatican officials were so alarmed by the Pentagon’s tactics that they shelved plans for Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States later this year.” The pope, 70, who hails from Chicago, was expected to come to the U.S. this July as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.
"The Free Press' characterization of the meeting is highly exaggerated and distorted,” a U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson told Military.com on Thursday. “The meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials was a respectful and reasonable discussion. We have nothing but the highest regard and welcome continued dialogue with the Holy See."
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.”
An Alleged Threat Against the Vatican
A Vatican official told the Free Press that the alleged Colby threat was a response to the pope’s challenging of the so-called Donroe Doctrine—President Donald Trump’s updated view of U.S. dominance and influence in the Western Hemisphere.
“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies,” the pontiff said in January during his annual address to the Vatican’s diplomatic corps.
Officials in the Vatican saw the official’s purported remarks as referencing an Avignon papacy, viewed as a threat to use military force against the Holy See.
The historical analogy is correlated to the Avignon Schism of the 14th century, when the French crown put the papacy in jeopardy. At that time between September 1378 and November 1417, multiple bishops residing in Rome and Avignon simultaneously claimed to be the actual pope.
“If the report is accurate, it simply reveals the ridiculous hubris of Pentagon officials and the Trump administration in thinking that they have the power to move such a steadfast institution as the papacy,” Francis DeBernardo, executive director of Maryland-based New Ways Ministry, a Catholic organization that educates and advocates for equity, inclusion and justice, told Military.com.
DeBernardo said that secular power does not threaten the Vicar of Christ; rather, threatening the papacy “shows the fear that Trump officials have of the fact that Pope Leo, an American, has more power and influence than the president on the world stage.”
Like most Trumpian bullying, this strategy will backfire. Moral truth and compassion always overcome brute force.
Politics At Play
Vice President Vance, in Hungary earlier this week politically stumping for Viktor Orban, was asked about the reports of the purported interaction between Trump administration officials and the papal ambassador.
Last May, Vance had personally invited the pope to come to the U.S. for the 250th anniversary celebration.
Vance, who according to reports did not initially remember who Pierre was, said he was going to look into the matter.
“I’ve never seen this reporting,” Vance said. “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.
The latest reports follow the pope's remarks issued in response to a Trump statement on Tuesday in which he threatened to destroy "the whole Iranian civilisation" if Tehran did not comply with a deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That led to a two-week ceasefire being reached between both nations.
“Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran. And this is truly unacceptable!" the pope said Tuesday while speaking in Italian. "There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more, it is a moral question concerning the good of the people as a whole, in its entirety.”
The pope has also been publicly vocal about the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies.
