#USA #Vatican – The Pentagon and White House have officially responded to the allegations made in The Free Press Report, which reported with independent sources that the Vatican Ambassador to the United States was summoned to a meeting at the Pentagon last January in which he was lectured on American military might by the Under Secretary of War and threatened with the Avignon Papacy. Both organizations have refuted the report made by The Free Press and Letters from Leo as dramatized and inaccurate.
A Department of War spokesperson described the January 22, 2026, meeting between Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby and Cardinal Christophe Pierre (then the Holy See’s U.S. ambassador) as “respectful and reasonable,” calling the Free Press characterization “highly exaggerated and distorted.” They emphasized “the highest regard” for continued dialogue with the Holy See. Similar statements note it was a “substantive, respectful and professional” discussion on current affairs, with no threats made. Some defenders (including references to Colby himself or allies) have pushed back on X and elsewhere, calling the Avignon Papacy reference claim implausible or fabricated in tone. No direct public comment from Colby or JD Vance has surfaced in the latest coverage, though Vance has been linked to responses in social media discussions around the story since he was questioned on the subject prior to his leave from Budapest, but made no comment.
A source “close to Pope Leo XIV” told NBC Chicago that the meeting was “most unpleasant and confrontational,” aligning with earlier anonymous Vatican briefings describing a “bitter lecture.” This is now cited across multiple outlets as the fourth source characterizing it that way. The Vatican has not issued an official detailed rebuttal or confirmation of the Avignon reference but has stood by its decision to shelve Pope Leo’s planned 2026 U.S. visit. The reasons cited include foreign policy clashes (especially Iran and broader “diplomacy of force”), U.S. bishops’ criticism of deportation policies, and a desire to avoid partisanship. A Vatican official told The Free Press the pope “may well never visit the United States under this administration.”
Image: The Pentagon building in January 2008.
