A Vatican official appears to have downplayed a recent report describing a contentious meeting between U.S. defense officials and Cardinal Christophe Pierre.
Pierre, a Vatican diplomat, met with Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby at the Pentagon in January. Earlier this week, The Free Press reported that U.S. officials used the meeting to criticize a speech Pope Leo XIV gave earlier that month, and were interpreting his remarks as attacking President Donald Trump's policies.