Senior Pentagon officials reportedly summoned Pope Leo XIV’s ambassador to a closed-door meeting in January 2026, as tensions grew with the first American-born pope.
According to reports by The Free Press and The Letters from Leo, US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby and other officials confronted Cardinal Christophe Pierre following the pope’s “State of the World” address. In that speech, Pope Leo criticized “diplomacy based on force,” “imperialist occupation,” and the pursuit of global dominance.
During the meeting, Colby and his colleagues allegedly told the cardinal, "America has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”
The alleged incident is said to have contributed to the collapse of plans for a papal visit to the United States during the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations, according to the reports.
Neither the Vatican nor the Trump administration has publicly responded to the reports, and HT.com has not independently verified the claims.
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What did Pope Leo XIV say about the US–Iran conflict?
Pope Leo XIV has emerged as an increasingly vocal critic of the Iran conflict. After initially calling for restraint and dialogue, he significantly sharpened his tone earlier this week.
{{/usCountry}}Pope Leo XIV has emerged as an increasingly vocal critic of the Iran conflict. After initially calling for restraint and dialogue, he significantly sharpened his tone earlier this week.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking hours after US President Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” the pope condemned threats against civilians in Iran.
"Today, as we all know, there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable," said the pope.
While not naming Trump directly, the pope urged people to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives “to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war.”
“We have a worldwide economic crisis, an energy crisis, (a) situation in the Middle East of great instability, which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world,” he said, according to AP.
He added that the message to leaders should be: “Come back to the table, let’s talk, let’s look for solutions in a peaceful way and let’s remember especially the innocent children, the elderly, sick, so many people who have already become or will become victims of this continued warfare.”