Media: Pentagon “threatened” Vatican after Pope’s criticism of White House

Senior Pentagon officials issued warnings to the Vatican during a closed-door meeting in January, according to The New Republic.

The report follows remarks by Pope Leo XIV, who had criticised the use of force over diplomacy in a recent speech.

The meeting took place at the Pentagon and was attended by Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby and the Vatican’s representative to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre.

During the discussion, Colby reportedly stated that the United States “has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”

Another Pentagon official raised the historical example of the Avignon Papacy — the period from 1309 to 1377, when popes resided in France and were dependent on French kings.

The meeting came after Pope Leo XIV addressed members of the Vatican diplomatic corps, where he said 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.”

According to the New Republic, the White House interpreted these remarks “as a hostile message” directed at the US administration.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov