Pope Leo XIV has met with the Holy See's new papal nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Caccia, who is replacing Cardinal Christophe Pierre.
The April 9th meeting comes in the midst of continued diplomatic tensions between the Catholic Church and the Trump administration.
The pope's recent comments outside of Castel Gandolfo about the war in Iran sent waves through international media:
POPE LEO XIV
ORIG. ITALIAN
Clearly alluding to the Trump administration's military actions in the Middle East, the pope's calls for peace have become more frequent and pointed.
Reports are now being confirmed that, shortly in the wake of Pope Leo's address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See on January 9, the U.S. Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Pierre—then Papal Nuncio to the United States—to the Pentagon for a meeting. Allegedly, no Vatican official has ever had a meeting at the Pentagon before.
According to a controversial report from the journalist Christopher Hale, the Pentagon summoned Cardinal Pierre not only to interrogate him about Pope Leo's January address—which it saw as an indirect but clear attack on Trump's foreign policy—but also to threaten military action against the Vatican if it failed to step in line with current U.S. foreign policy.
This second claim is currently being contested across social media, with many claiming that such a threat is, if not impossible, highly implausible.
Meanwhile, in wake of Trump's recent threats to destroy the entire civilization of Iran and to strike civilian infrastructure, Archbishop Paul Coakley, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, called on Donald Trump to “step back from the precipice of war,” calling his threats morally unjustifiable.
Within two weeks of Pope Leo's election to the papacy, Vice President J.D. Vance had invited the American pope to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States at the White House this July 4. This invitation was declined.
Pope Leo will instead spend that exact day visiting the Italian island of Lampadusa, which is a high-risk entry point for immigrants and refugees, many of whom come from northern Africa. As the relationship between the Vatican and the Trump administration continues to be tested, to say that the timing of the pope's visit to Lampadusa is striking is an understatement.
