{"id":47608,"date":"2026-04-10T12:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=47608"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:21:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:21:35","slug":"truly-insane-pentagon-threatened-pope-after-he-condemned-trumps-military-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/10\/truly-insane-pentagon-threatened-pope-after-he-condemned-trumps-military-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Truly Insane\u2019: Pentagon Threatened Pope After He Condemned Trump\u2019s Military Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Pope<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pope Leo XIV leads his weekly general audience in St. Peter\u2019s Squarein Vatican City on April 8, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Maria Grazia Picciarella\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US \u201chas the military power to do whatever it wants in the world,\u201d a top official told the Vatican\u2019s US representative. \u201cThe Catholic Church had better take its side.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apr 09, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pope Leo, the first American to be named the head of the worldwide Catholic Church, has spoken out against President Donald Trump\u2019s policies frequently this year as the US has invaded Venezuela<\/a> and Iran and threatened<\/a> Cuba\u2019s 10 million people with an oil<\/a> blockade that has crippled<\/a> the island\u2019s economy and healthcare<\/a> system\u2014and according<\/a> to new reports, his criticism has followed a warning from a Pentagon<\/a> official who demanded the Vatican take the \u201cside\u201d of the White House<\/a> in foreign disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Free Press originally reported<\/a> this week that after the pope\u2019s \u201cState of the World\u201d address on January 9, US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby called Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican\u2019s US diplomatic representative, to Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colby told Pierre that the US \u201chas the military power to do whatever it wants in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Catholic Church had better take its side,\u201d he said, according to The Free Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Pentagon official alluded to the Avignon papacy, a period in the 14th century in which the French monarchy ordered an attack on Pope Boniface VIII and forced seven successive popes to relocate from Rome to Avignon in France<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to<\/a> Christopher Hale of the Substack blog Letters From Leo, who independently confirmed the meeting had taken place, Vatican officials took the remarks about the Avignon papacy as \u201ca threat to use military force against the Holy See.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBringing up the Avignon papacy as a threat is truly insane,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0progressive organizer Jonathan Cohn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/tedlieu\/status\/2041988158636855518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2041988158636855518%7Ctwgr%5Ea7e9c541c6573542ce26601bfe93ad5118e2ce19%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fpope-leo-and-trump<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope is unlikely to visit the US during Trump\u2019s presidency as a result of the meeting, Hale reported. Pope Leo rejected an invitation to the White House for the United States<\/a>\u2019 250th anniversary celebration on July 4, and is reportedly planning to visit the island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean that day, where thousands of North African immigrants have arrived as they attempt to reach Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope, reported Hale, \u201cis too deliberate a man to have chosen that date by accident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon meeting took place days after Pope Leo angered the\u00a0Trump administration<\/a>, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, by lamenting the fact that \u201ca diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

In the speech that enraged Pete Hegseth and top Pentagon officials, Pope Leo XIV said: \u201cA diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force.\u201d

\u201cWar is back in vogue, and a zeal for war is spreading.

\u201cThe\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/q76XtqxNXU<\/a><\/p>— Christopher Hale (@ChristopherHale) April 8, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>