WASHINGTON—During a January meeting at the Pentagon, Vatican officials met with U.S. military leaders and discussed key national security objectives for the United States, according to a War Department official who was in the room.
Months later, the Free Press published an “expose” describing a reportedly contentious January meeting between a Vatican diplomat and Pentagon principal, as rumors of a rift between Washington and Rome have swirled.
But the Vatican, the Pentagon, and the American Ambassador to the Holy See all say the meeting was cordial and respectful. The parties involved have all made a public show of being friendly. And the contentious topic at the heart of the fracas — Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of military strikes in Iran — seems not to have come up at all.
So, what really happened?
The principals at the meeting were Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby and Cardinal Christophe Pierre, then the Vatican’s Apostolic Nuncio — functionally ambassador — to the United States. Both Colby and Pierre had staffers with them, The Daily Wire has learned.
American officials conveyed the administration’s position and intentions on Venezuela, Cuba, and other countries, and listened to the Vatican’s views on these topics.
“It was an attempt to engage seriously and respectfully with the Holy See’s position on matters relevant to the Department of War,” a War Department official who in the room for the January 22 meeting told The Daily Wire.
Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby @USWPColby had a substantive, respectful, and professional meeting with Cardinal Pierre, the then-Papal Nuncio, and his team on January 22, 2026. During the cordial meeting, they discussed a range of topics, including issues of… pic.twitter.com/McI0sB2wKC
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) April 9, 2026
“We naturally, at the Department of War, in the Policy office, wanted to have a respectful discussion with the Vatican,” the official said. “Part of the role of Policy, in the Department of War, is to have dialogue between other nations on military matters.”
This is a stark contrast to The Free Press’s April 6 report that the Pentagon had summoned Pierre to the meeting, during which Colby and others chastised the cardinal and insisted that the United States “has the military power to do whatever it wants — and that the Church had better take its side.” Citing unnamed sources, the story also notes that Colby invoked the Avignon Papacy, a period in the 14th century in which the Holy See moved from Rome to France, where a series of popes were largely bent to the will of the French monarchy.
Mattia Ferraresi, the freelance contributor who authored The Free Press piece, suggested the Avignon Papacy reference was a veiled threat that the United States was willing to use its military power to “dominate the papal authority.”
Ferraresi, who told The Daily Wire on Friday he stands by his reporting, also casts Colby as belonging to “a cadre of Catholic and ostensibly dovish officials” allied with Vice President JD Vance “struggling to reconcile their isolationist instincts with the aggressive posture of a president who, within a single year, has bombed eight countries — with no sign of stopping.”
The Avignon Papacy storyline was amplified by Democrat operative Christopher Hale, who suggested in now viral tweets that “many in the Vatican saw the Pentagon’s reference to an Avignon papacy as a threat to use military force against the Holy See.”
In a statement, the Pentagon says Ferraresi’s characterization of the meeting was “highly exaggerated and distorted.”
“It is not unusual for Mr. Colby to have meetings with ambassadors,” that official noted, referencing the suggestion that the meeting was unprecedented. “He has often, at least one or two meetings with ambassadors from other nations a week. It’s certainly not unusual that we meet with ambassadors on these matters.”
“We invited them because we were interested in hearing the Vatican’s views,” the official explained, “and we wanted to convey the administration’s position, and intentions.”
“We talked about key American security objectives. Venezuela had just happened. We talked about that. We talked about this administration’s approach towards Europe, and NATO, Latin America. Also Cuba, Venezuela; the Vatican’s obviously very active in both those nations.”
Brian Burch, the United States Ambassador to the Holy See, spoke with Pierre on Thursday and shared their conversation in a public statement, saying that Pierre told him there was “no threat of Avignon” and that a “frank and cordial meeting that took place two months ago.”
It could be said the US-Holy See relationship is much bigger than mere diplomatic relations. It is rooted in a civilizational idea that the Catholic Church helped advance, which the U.S. proudly inherited, and carries forth today. https://t.co/V7rfCU1jIY
— Ambassador Brian Burch (@BrianBurchUSA) April 10, 2026
“As expected, he confirmed that recent media characterizations of his meeting with Undersecretary Colby are ‘fabrications’ that were ‘just invented,'” Burch said. “Given the intelligence and seriousness of Mr. Colby, I was likewise not surprised when His Eminence acknowledged there were no threats of any kind in the meeting.”
The cardinal and Burch have spoken regularly since Burch was nominated to become ambassador to the Holy See, Burch noted.
“When we disagree, we have done so with sincerity and respect,” he added. “I believe the same could be said of his January meeting with Undersecretary Colby. It’s regrettable that some journalists and online agitators chose to exploit a routine meeting to sow division between the Holy See and the United States.”
The Pentagon also characterized the meeting as “cordial,” “substantive, respectful, and professional” in a statement released Thursday — and called The Free Press report “grossly false and distorted.”
“They discussed a range of topics, including issues of morality in foreign policy, the logic of the U.S. National Security Strategy, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and other topics,” the Pentagon statement said. “Cardinal Pierre expressed his appreciation for the outreach and both sides looked forward to continued open and respectful dialogue.”
And Vice President Vance, asked about the matter on Wednesday, told the press that he had not yet seen the reporting on the meeting: “I’d like to actually talk to Cardinal Christophe Pierre, and frankly, to our people, to figure out what actually happened.”
Pope Leo has repeatedly weighed in on the conflict in Iran, expressing hopes that the United States and Iran can come to an agreement “in a peaceful way” and condemning President Donald Trump for warning that a “whole civilization” would be wiped out if Iran did not agree to a peace plan.
But despite that criticism, both the White House and Vatican insist the parties have a positive relationship.
“Catholic Americans resoundingly supported President Trump in 2024, and the president’s administration has a positive relationship with the Vatican, which was strengthened when Vice President Vance attended the Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass last year,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. “The President has done more than any of his predecessors to save lives and resolve global conflicts, and following the completion of his military objectives in Iran, he is hopeful that the agreement under discussion can lead to a lasting peace in the Middle East.”
“We have nothing but the highest regard and welcome continued dialogue with the Holy See,” the Pentagon added.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni also denied the reporting, saying Friday that, “As confirmed by His Eminence Christophe Pierre … his meeting with Mr. Elbridge Andrew Colby was part of the papal representative’s regular mission and provided the opportunity for an exchange of views on matters of mutual interest.”
“The narrative offered by some media outlets about this meeting is completely untrue,” Bruni added.
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