In January, a senior Vatican diplomat was summoned to a closed-door meeting at the Pentagon. There, according to reporting by The Free Press, U.S. officials sharply criticised Pope Leo XIV’s stance on foreign policy and warned that the United States has “the military power to do whatever it wants—and that the Church had better take its side.”
A source speaking on condition of anonymity also claimed that a U.S. official invoked the Avignon Papacy, the fourteenth-century period when the French Crown used force to assert control over the Bishop of Rome.
The Pentagon has not denied that the meeting took place, but has disputed its characterisation, describing it as “respectful and reasonable.”
More recently, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See said reports on the meeting were “just invented,” citing Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who described the encounter as “frank, but very cordial” and a “normal encounter.”
At the same time, reporting from outlets including NBC and the Free Press (CBS) continues to cite an anonymous Vatican source describing the meeting in sharply different terms.
The result is a set of conflicting accounts of what took place behind closed doors. Whether or not the exact words were spoken that the Church “had better take its side,” the actions since January show the Church has clearly taken a side, and that side lies in the gospel of justice and peace.
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With thanks to Common Home TV and Matthew Howard, where this article originally appeared.
