The Pentagon on Thursday denied a report that the Vatican’s US envoy was summoned in January for a “bitter” dressing down over remarks by Pope Leo XIV that were seen as criticising the Trump administration’s use of military force.
According to The Free Press, which shares common ownership with CBS News, Cardinal Christophe Pierre was given a “bitter lecture” by US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby.
Colby reportedly told the Vatican representative that Washington “has the military power to do whatever it wants — and that the Church had better take its side.”
The report also claimed a US official invoked the Avignon Papacy, when France’s crown used military power to dominate papal authority in the 14th century.
In a speech in January, Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born pontiff, denounced what he called “diplomacy based on force” and in his Easter blessing he urged “those who have the power to unleash wars” to “choose peace.”
The Pentagon and the US ambassador to the Holy See denied The Free Press’ account of the January meeting between Colby and Pierre, who has since retired.
“Recent reporting of the meeting is highly exaggerated and distorted,” the Pentagon said on X. “The meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials was a respectful and reasonable discussion.”
“They discussed a range of topics, including issues of morality in foreign policy, the logic of the US National Security Strategy, Europe, Africa, Latin America and other topics,” the post said.
The US embassy in the Vatican posted a statement saying Pierre described the meeting as “frank, but very cordial” and a “normal meeting”. Pierre confirmed the report “does not reflect what happened”, according to the embassy.
Brian Burch, the US ambassador to the Vatican, said he had spoken on Wednesday with Pierre regarding the January meeting and the reporting about it “does not reflect what happened.”
“The cardinal emphatically denied the media’s portrayal of his meeting with Colby,” Burch said. “He described the meeting as ‘frank, but very cordial’ and a ‘normal encounter.'”
US Vice President JD Vance said he did not know who Pierre was when asked about the reports during his trip to Hungary this week, but then recalled he had met the cardinal.
“Sorry. I just didn’t remember the name,” Vance, who recently wrote a book about converting to Catholicism, said.
“I’d like to actually talk to Cardinal Christoph Pierre and, frankly, to our people to figure out what actually happened.” He refused to further comment on the matter.
Vance was among the last people to meet with late Pope Francis in a brief audience last Easter Sunday. Pope Francis died the following morning.
Pope’s criticism of US policy
Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly highly criticised the Trump administration’s military action in Iran.
He condemned the initial US strikes on Iran on 28 February as “illegal and immoral” during his Sunday Angelus prayer, according to Letters from Leo, a website covering the Pope.
In his Urbi et Orbi address on Easter Sunday, the pontiff touched upon the Iran war and Russia’s ongoing all-out war in Ukraine, stating, “Let those who have weapons lay them down.
“Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace. Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue. Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them,” the pope implored.
Pope Leo XIV also acknowledged a sense of indifference “to the deaths of thousands of people … to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow (and) to the economic and social consequences they produce.’’
Following US President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation earlier this week, the pope urged Americans and other people of good will to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives to demand they reject war and work for peace.
“Today as we all know there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable,” Pope Leo XIV said as he left his country house in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
The Free Press reported, citing unnamed Vatican officials, that the Holy See had considered and then indefinitely postponed a papal visit to the United States in 2026 due to foreign policy disagreements and rising opposition from US bishops to Trump administration policies.
The Vatican press office stated in February that “the pope will not go to the United States in 2026.”
The Holy See later announced that Pope Leo XIV instead plans to visit the Italian island of Lampedusa on 4 July, the 250th anniversary of US independence. Lampedusa is a major arrival point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
In November 2025, the Chicago-born pontiff called for “deep reflection” on how migrants are treated in the United States, in another admonishment of the Trump administration.