In January, Letters from Leo independently confirm The Free Press report that a meeting took place between the Secretary of War, Elbridge Colby, and the summoned Cardinal Cristophe Pierre, at the Pentagon. It is reported that Vatican officials were alarmed by tactics used against them, so much so that plans for Pope Leo XIV to visit the USA were re-arranged for a later time.

It has been reported that U.S. officials in the Pentagon referenced the Avignon papacy from the fourteenth-century as a threat to use military force against the Holy See. The story was brought to our attention by Mattia Ferraresi, a reporter for The Free Press, to which it has been confirmed (you can read here). The article also claims Pentagon officials warned the Vatican “the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants”. Whilst seeking more information regarding the Pentagon official who referenced the Avignon Papacy during the meeting, RNS asked officials at both DoD and the Nuncio’s office about the allegation. Representatives at Nuncio’s office did not directly respond to the question, and the DoD declined to comment. After doing some research online due to my un-familiarity with the Avignon Papcy, it refers to a time in history in the fourteenth-century where the French king at the time, Philip IV, enforced pressure on the papacy, essentially kidnapping the Pope in order to exert the king’s power and control, which lead to the death of Pope Bonafice V1. You can quite clearly see how bringing that up is severely dystopian and Orwellian and was taken as a threat.

On Sunday, Trump unleashed criticisms of Pope Leo which you can see below.

Speaking to Sky News today, Trump doubled-down, stating “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess. We don’t like a pope who says it’s ok to have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want a pope that says crime is ok. I am not a fan of Pope Leo.” when asked why did he attack the Pope – you can watch it here.

Pope Leo has never once publicly been pro-nukes. In fact, it is nowhere to be seen anywhere online that Pope Leo is or has been pro-nukes. It is quite the opposite.

In August 2025, in a message to Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima on the 80th anniversary of the U.S bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Pope called for nuclear disarmament and a real commitment to peace. He stated, “Nuclear arms offend our shared humanity and also betray the dignity of creation, whose harmony we are called to safeguard.”. Followed by, “Despite the passing of the years, those tragic events remain a universal warning against the devastation caused by wars, and in particular by nuclear weapons.”. On the 5th March 2026, appearing via video message, Pope Leo lead a prayer, ‘Pray with The Pope’, for ‘disarmament and peace’ declaring, “May the nuclear threat never again dictate the future of humanity. I can go on and on. The Pope said today that he will keep speaking out against war despite attacks from Trump.

For those that may not know, Pope Leo is the first Pope to be born in the United States. Did Trump think that he had some sort of American pro-military stance due to the fact that he was born in the USA, even though he is the Pope? I am confused as to what the precursor was here considering Trump was happy that Leo was elected in May 2025 or whether Trump is actually just coming for everybody for reasons that do not directly involve him? Not even a year later, all of a sudden Trump is calling the Pope ‘weak’ and ‘If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican’.

Secondly, the fact that the United States Secretary of WAR met with Cardinal Christophe Pierre at the Pentagon, who serves as Pope Leo’s U.S. representative, is as insane as it sounds. Already, that stands out as odd, irrational and not at all how representatives of the Pope have been received when considering past precedence, ever. While speaking to RNS, Papal biographer, Massimo Faggioli, compared this to inviting a vegetarian to a BBQ. Very applicable here and hilarious. Faggioli claimed, “That is the building where the orders to wage war come from, and that is by itself not a natural place to have a meeting with a representative of a global organization like the Catholic Church, which is known for efforts to stop wars.”.

The Times on Times Radio have a good short segment on this that I found insightful, you can watch it here and it is also linked below.

On the show, The Catholic writer and US Democrat campaigner, Christopher Hail, described the meeting as “strange at the outset because he’s a diplomat (referring to the Cardinal). Usually these things are handled between the state department and the Holy See. But he was summoned, that’s the words that were used by the Pentagon.”.

Something I never thought I’d see is an American President at odds with the Pope. Does Trump even know his voters and ‘fanbase’?

We are living through literal unprecedented times and modern-history is proving the old quote to be true, history does really repeat itself. It does not matter how many centuries are between historical similarities – if the same decisions and mistakes are being made, you are still going to get the same outcome. The concept of historical reoccurrence of course is intrinsically linked to human nature and behaviours, but what if we haven’t made the progress we think we have? Is it really never-ending wars after saying never again when WW2 ended? I was born in 95, I’ve lived through three major financial recessions, seven global famines and numerous wars/military interventions… Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Kosovo, Iran, Ukraine, Chechnya and what is happening in Palestine. It would be nice to live in a world where there is no war, no hostility, there is economic stability and peace throughout the world. It’s not a pageant response, world peace is truly the one thing I would wish for right now if I could wish for anything.