The New 'Avignon Papacy'? Pentagon Officials Reportedly Invoked Medieval Captivity to Threaten Vatican and Force Pope's Support

A senior Pentagon official summoned Pope Leo XIV's ambassador to a closed-door meeting in January and told him the United States 'has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world' and that 'the Catholic Church had better take its side,' according to accounts from Vatican and US officials briefed on the extraordinary encounter.

As the meeting grew heated, one American official invoked the Avignon Papacy, a 14th-century period when the French monarchy wielded military force to bring the Catholic Church to heel.

That era began with an attack on Pope Boniface VIII that led to his death and ended with the papacy relocated from Rome to Avignon under French control for nearly seven decades.

Vatican officials interpreted the reference as a veiled threat to use military force against the Holy See, according to independent Vatican reporter Christopher Hale, who confirmed the meeting took place.

There is no public record of any Vatican official ever being summoned to the Pentagon before this encounter.

A Bitter Lecture at the Pentagon

Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby called Cardinal Christophe Pierre, then serving as the Holy See's ambassador to Washington, to the meeting following Pope Leo's January State of the World Address.

According to officials briefed on the conversation, Pentagon staff dissected the Pope's speech line by line, viewing it as a direct attack on administration policy.

What particularly angered Colby's team was Pope Leo's declaration that 'a diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force.'

Officials read this as a challenge to the 'Donroe Doctrine,' the administration's assertion of American dominance over the Western Hemisphere.

The cardinal reportedly sat through the lecture in silence. The Holy See has not retreated from its positions since that day.

July 4 on Lampedusa, Not Washington

The Vatican was so alarmed by the Pentagon's approach that officials shelved plans for Pope Leo to visit the United States later this year.

The first American-born pope will instead spend the Fourth of July on Lampedusa, the Sicilian island where North African migrants wash ashore by the thousands seeking refuge in Europe.

Vice President JD Vance had personally invited Pope Leo to attend America's 250th anniversary celebrations in May 2025, just two weeks after the Pope's election. 'The administration tried every possible way to have the Pope in the US in 2026,' one Vatican official told The Free Press.

'The Pope may well never visit the United States under this administration,' another Vatican official said.

Vance Says He Will Investigate

Speaking in Hungary on Wednesday, Vice President Vance said he would look into the reports. 'I would actually like to talk to Cardinal Christophe Pierre and, frankly, to our people, to figure out what actually happened,' he said. 'I think it's always a bad idea to offer an opinion on stories that are unconfirmed and uncorroborated.'

A Pentagon spokesperson rejected the account, calling The Free Press's characterisation 'highly exaggerated and distorted.' The spokesperson described the meeting as 'a respectful and reasonable discussion' and said the Pentagon 'welcomes continued dialogue with the Holy See.'

A Pope Who Pressed Harder

Rather than retreat into quiet diplomacy after the January meeting, Pope Leo intensified his public stance. 'Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,' he said in a Palm Sunday address. 'He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.'

Pope Leo will accept the Liberty Medal remotely from Rome on 3 July, honoured for his 'lifelong work promoting religious liberty and freedom of conscience.'

The following day, as America marks its 250th birthday, the first US-born pontiff will kneel with migrants on Lampedusa.