Pentagon Denies 'Reprimanding' Vatican Ambassador Over Pope's Criticism of Trump

SadaNews - On Thursday-Friday, the Pentagon denied a news report about the U.S. Department of Defense summoning the Vatican's envoy to the United States in January to reprimand him over comments made by Pope Leo XIV that were considered criticism of the Trump administration's use of military force, according to the "Agence France-Presse".

According to the "The Free Press" newspaper, which is co-owned by the "CBS News" network, Cardinal Christophe Pierre received a "stinging rebuke" from Elbridge Colby, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

The news report stated that Colby told the Vatican representative that the United States "has the military power to do what it wants, and the church should align with it".

In a speech he delivered in January, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope in the history of the Catholic Church, condemned what he termed "diplomacy based on force", and in his Easter blessing, he urged "those who have the power to ignite wars" to "choose peace".

The Pentagon and the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican denied "The Free Press" information related to the January meeting between Colby and Pierre, who has since retired.

The Pentagon stated in a press release that "recent reports about the meeting are exaggerated and highly distorted. The meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials was a respectful and rational discussion".

The statement added: "They discussed a number of topics, including issues of ethics in foreign policy, the logic of U.S. national security strategy, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and others".

U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Brian Birch stated that he spoke on Wednesday with Cardinal Pierre about the January meeting, and that reports about it "do not reflect what happened".

Birch added: "The cardinal strongly denied what was reported in the media about his meeting with Colby", describing the meeting as candid yet very friendly and a "routine meeting".