Prior to this, Leo XIV gave a speech in which he criticized the use of force instead of diplomacy.
According to The New Republic. according to The New Republic. by Kommersant, the meeting was held at the Pentagon. It was attended by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s deputy head for political affairs, and Cardinal Christoph Pierre, the Vatican’s representative in the United States.
During the talk, Colby said the U.S. has the military power “to do whatever it wants in the world.” He warned that the Catholic Church “better get on their side.”
Another Pentagon spokesman mentioned the topic of the Avignon papacy, a period from 1309 to 1377 when popes were forced into France and were dependent on French kings.
The meeting was preceded by a speech by Leo XIV to representatives of the Vatican diplomatic corps. At it, the pontiff mentioned that “diplomacy that promotes dialog and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by diplomacy based on force” and that “war is back in vogue and the zeal for war is spreading.”
According to The New Republic, the White House interpreted these words “as a hostile message” to the US presidential administration.
In early February, it became known that the Pope was not planning to visit the United States to participate in events on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States.
The Pentagon denies strained relations with the Vatican. The agency said that the meeting of representatives of the United States and the Vatican “was a respectful and reasonable discussion”.
