A closed-door meeting at the Pentagon in January 2026 has emerged as a flashpoint in the increasingly strained relationship between Washington and the Holy See, with reports alleging that senior US defence officials delivered what Vatican sources described as a 'bitter lecture' to Pope Leo XIV's then-ambassador to the United States. The encounter, first reported by Mattia Ferraresi, has since sent diplomatic tremors through both institutions and contributed to the Vatican's decision to shelve a planned papal visit to the United States.
According to the report, Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre — at the time the Vatican's ambassador to Washington — to the Pentagon shortly after Pope Leo XIV delivered his January state-of-the-world address. Vatican officials briefed on the meeting described it as a 'bitter lecture' warning that 'the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world' and that 'the Church had better take its side.' The Pentagon has since disputed that characterisation.
