US EditionUS vs Vatican: Did Pentagon Threaten Pope Leo with ‘Military Force’ After He Criticised Trump?
Vatican alarmed by Pentagon's coercive warning, referencing Avignon papacy, leading Pope Leo to cancel U.S. visit.
- Pope Leo XIV rejected the White House's invitation to celebrate the United States' 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, choosing instead to visit Lampedusa, a Mediterranean island where North African immigrants arrive seeking refuge in Europe.
- The refusal follows a reported January meeting where Pentagon officials allegedly referenced the 'Avignon papacy'—a 14th-century period of French royal interference in the Church—to pressure the Vatican into alignment with U.S. foreign policy.
- U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby reportedly told the Vatican ambassador, "The United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world," demanding the Catholic Church "take its side."
- The Defense Department denied the meeting's characterization, calling it "highly exaggerated and distorted," while U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday he would investigate the reported Pentagon lecture.
- Relations between the Holy See and the White House remain strained over foreign policy disagreements, with reports suggesting Pope Leo may avoid visiting the United States while the current administration remains in power.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Catholic Herald journalist confirms Pentagon attacked Pope Leo
A journalist with The Catholic Herald has confirmed that the Pentagon attacked Pope Leo XIV and the Catholic Church. What appears to be in dispute, however, is which U.S. Pentagon official made the threat. Niwa Limbu, an accredited Vatican correspondent, wrote on X that two sources said it was not Elbridge Colby who threatened the Vatican in a closed-door meeting this week. The DOD's undersecretary of defense for policy had been accused by The F…
kreiszeitung.de
MAGA wanted the first U.S. pope as an ally. Instead, Leo XIV criticizes Trump's migration policy and the Iran war – and is said to have been swept away in the Pentagon.
The Donald Trump administration came into conflict with Leo XIV, the first pope of American descent. According to The Free Press, it even came to the point that the Pentagon representative significantly reminded the papal ambassador to the United States of the so-called “Avignon captivity” — the period from 1309 to 1377, when the papacy was dependent on France.
Top Pentagon Official Confronted Vatican Ambassador With Menacing 'Lecture'
Pope Leo XIV chronicler Christopher Hale says he has confirmed that Trump’s Pentagon threatened to declare war on the Vatican.“In January, behind closed doors at the Pentagon, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre — Pope Leo XIV’s then-ambassador to the United States — and delivered a lecture,” said Hale.“America has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world,” Colby and his associa…
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