Trumps Pentagon Did Not Threaten Popes Ambassador Over Anti-War Statements

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Ces dernières semaines, Léon XIV a affiché une opposition de plus en plus franche à Donald Trump, allant jusqu'à juger mardi "inacceptable" sa menace d'"anéantir la civilisation iranienne", tandis que le président français a répondu sèchement aux critiques du président américain, déplorant qu'il "parle trop" et se contredise sans cesse.

The story emerged as Pope Leo XIV ... of those who wage war," that many people interpreted as directed at President Donald Trump and the United States as the U.S.-Israel war on Iran continued....

According to Christopher Hale of the Substack blog Letters From Leo, who independently confirmed the meeting had taken place, Vatican officials took the remarks about the Avignon papacy as "a threat to use military force against the Holy See."

Pope Leo: Trump’s threat to destroy Iran ‘truly unacceptable’ · Trump threatened Iran’s ‘whole civilization.’ That’s a war crime—not a just war.

“Vatican officials briefed on ... described it as a bitter lecture warning that the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants – and that the Church had better take its side,” the report ...

The DOD's undersecretary of defense for policy had been accused by The Free Press of being the source of a "bitter lecture." "The United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side...

En avril 2026, le média américain The Free Press révèle que le cardinal Christophe Pierre, nonce apostolique aux États-Unis, a été convoqué au Pentagone en janvier 2026. Durant cet échange, le sous-secrétaire à la politique de Défense, Elbridge Colby, a indiqué au nonce que les États-Unis « disposaient d'une puissance militaire suffisante pour "faire tout ce qu'ils voulaient" » et que Léon XIV « ferait mieux de prendre leur parti ». Le 15 mai 2025, Emmanuel Macron s'entretient pour la première fois avec le pape Léon XIV.

America, Colby and his colleagues told the cardinal, has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.

DeBernardo said that secular power does not threaten the Vicar of Christ; rather, threatening the papacy “shows the fear that Trump officials have of the fact that Pope Leo, an American, has more power and influence than the president on the world stage.” · Like most Trumpian bullying, this strategy will backfire. Moral truth and compassion always overcome brute force. Vice President Vance, in Hungary earlier this week politically stumping for Viktor Orban, was asked about the reports of the purported interaction between Trump administration officials and the papal ambassador.

In his reporting, Mattia Ferraresi calls the meeting at the Pentagon—for which there is no public record—the culmination of months of brewing tensions between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. ... Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby reportedly summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Pope Leo XIV’s then-ambassador to the U.S., to the Pentagon after the pope’s January state-of-the-world address, which was interpreted as hostile to the Trump administration.

Vu la violence des termes, il a de la chance que le Pentagone n'ait pas cherché à l'éliminer. ... Basé basé basé. ... Le 09 avril 2026 à 07:59:37 : Un fois de plus, on n'a que la moitié de l'histoire.

После этого один из участников встречи провел историческую параллель с Авиньонским пленением пап XIV века, когда французская корона фактически подчинила себе Святой престол. Издание отмечает, что действия Вашингтона были продиктованы резкой реакцией на выступление Льва XIV, в котором он подверг критике милитаризацию внешней политики США.

Этот инцидент связывают с критикой политики США со стороны Папы Римского Льва XIV

Администрация Дональда Трампа вступила в конфликт со Львом XIV — первым папой римским американского происхождения. Как пишет издание The Free Press, дело даже дошло до того, что представитель Пентагона многозначительно напоминал папскому послу в США о так называемом «Авиньонском пленении» — периоде с 1309 по 1377 год, когда папство находилось в зависимости от Франции.