There has been a coordinated campaign—a hoax operation, really—to create the impression that the Trump administration and especially the Department of War are hostile to Catholicism.
It's an odd sort of hoax, given how many prominent members of the Trump administration are Catholics, including the Vice President.
The Pentagon summoned the Pope's ambassador, told him the United States has the military power to do "whatever it wants," and warned that the Church better take its side.
— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyan762) April 8, 2026
They even invoked the Avignon Papacy, a dark chapter in history when a government used military force to bend…
The Pentagon summoned the Pope's ambassador, told him the United States has the military power to do "whatever it wants," and warned that the Church better take its side.They even invoked the Avignon Papacy, a dark chapter in history when a government used military force to bend the Church to its will.So where exactly does this end? If the Pope refuses to fall in line, what's the next move, bomb the Vatican?
Yep. Trump is going to bomb the Vatican!
You may recall the fake "outrage" at the Pentagon's failure to have a Catholic Mass on Good Friday, which somehow was proof that Catholics aren't welcome at the Pentagon. Catholics don't have Mass on Good Friday, and Catholic Masses are held daily at the Pentagon.
Well, another story dropped to further that hoax. A claim has been made that the Papal Nuncio was summoned to the Pentagon and threatened over the Pope's failure to endorse the Iran war.
On April 8, Vice President JD Vance stood in front of Air Force Two in Budapest and was confronted with the latest chapter in an emerging, global drama: rising tensions between the U.S. military and religious leaders.
Standing on the tarmac in Hungary, where the vice president spoke at an electoral rally for that country's president, Viktor Orbán, Vance was asked by a reporter about a Free Press article that had been rapidly spreading online. The report, which cites unnamed Vatican officials, alleges military leaders invited then-Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S. Cardinal Christophe Pierre to the Pentagon for a meeting in January. The cleric was, according to The Free Press, reportedly dressed down by officials, who insisted the Catholic Church take the U.S. government's side in military matters.
In response, Vance initially said he did not know who Pierre was, before reversing course after being reminded of the cleric's former role as nuncio. The vice president then explained he had not seen the report, and wanted to speak with Pierre — who resigned his nuncio post in March — and administration officials to discern "what actually happened" before commenting further.
Religion News Service has been unable to independently confirm many details of the story, including the claim that a military official invoked the Avignon Papacy during the Pentagon meeting — a bleak era of church history when the 14th-century French monarchy exerted significant power over the papacy. But in a statement sent to RNS April 8, a Department of Defense official confirmed the meeting occurred, while disputing The Free Press' assessment.
"The Free Press's characterization of the meeting is highly exaggerated and distorted," the statement read. "The meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials was a respectful and reasonable discussion. We have nothing but the highest regard and welcome continued dialogue with the Holy See."
The story spread like wildfire, because of course it did. This is the hoax of the week, and is intended to plant the idea that the Trump administration is anti-Catholic. Because this is a coordinated campaign, clearly cooked up by some hack in the color revolution crowd, it went everywhere.
The Vatican says it is simply not true. Clearly, there was discussion and disagreement about the Iran war—the Pope has made his position clear, if a bit oddly, given that he says that Christians should never participate in wars, but it is unsurprising that the Papal Nuncio and Elbridge Colby, in their meeting, disagreed. The Trump administration's position is also obvious.
The Vatican on Friday said the narrative in some media outlets about a meeting at the Pentagon between senior U.S. defense officials and the pope’s then-representative to the U.S. “does not correspond to the truth.”
According to Cardinal Christophe Pierre, his meeting with Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge A. Colby in January was part of the former nuncio’s “regular mission and provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on matters of mutual interest,” Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said in a statement April 10.
“The narrative presented by certain media outlets regarding this meeting does not correspond to the truth at all,” Bruni added.
Bruni’s statement followed an April 6 report by The Free Press claiming Pierre, then the apostolic nuncio to the U.S., received “a bitter lecture” in a January meeting with defense officials, reportedly because of a speech in which Pope Leo XIV criticized “a diplomacy based on force.”
According to The Free Press, the pope’s message was interpreted as a criticism of U.S. policy by Pentagon officials, who told Pierre: “America has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”
The U.S. Department of Defense, in a post on X on April 9, said that a “substantive, respectful, and professional” meeting took place on Jan. 22, but “recent reporting of the meeting is highly exaggerated and distorted.”
The gulf between the Pope's position on the war and the Trump administration's is vast, but the insinuation that as a result of that the administration "threatened" the Vatican is insane.
In fact, the Vatican said that it is a lie.
"The Vatican on Friday said the narrative in some media outlets about a meeting at the Pentagon between senior U.S. defense officials and the pope’s then-representative to the U.S. 'does not correspond to the truth.'"https://t.co/bPGqexRTYk
— Jonathan Liedl (@JLLiedl) April 10, 2026
Spreading lies is standard operating procedure these days, as by now we all know. It has been for a long time, but in the war against Trump, it is so commonplace that it goes far beyond anything I have seen in my life. The frequency, persistence, and the constant repetition of disproven assertions that are clearly false is now a feature of political life, and I am sad to say that the strategy has worked.
NEW: The Free Press — a division of CBS News — is doubling down on its report of a contentious meeting between the Pentagon and Pope Leo XIV’s top US diplomat, despite a strong denial from Trump’s Ambassador to the Vatican.
— Christopher Hale (@ChristopherHale) April 10, 2026
“What happened inside that room set the tone for… pic.twitter.com/MoKO7KySgU
NEW: The Free Press — a division of CBS News — is doubling down on its report of a contentious meeting between the Pentagon and Pope Leo XIV’s top US diplomat, despite a strong denial from Trump’s Ambassador to the Vatican.
“What happened inside that room set the tone for everything that followed: Vatican officials briefed on the meeting, who spoke with The Free Press on the condition of anonymity, described it as a bitter lecture warning that the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants—and that the Church had better take its side.”
The media discovered that the steady repetition of falsehoods is a great strategy, as long as you have no principles and only a strong desire to get an outcome you like. The Russian collusion hoax, the "fine people" hoax, the Hunter Biden laptop hoax, the COVID lies, and so many other campaigns of deception do not convince everyone, but they do work to activate leftists and AWFLs, and leave people in a state of frenzy.
The "Trump threatened the Vatican is a total hoax. A hoax that should be debunked by the Vatican's denial, but it is still being pushed, because The Narrative™ rules all. Keep repeating the lie, even when it is disproven, and it becomes truth.
The Trump Administration and its MAGA disciples are at war with the Pope.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) April 10, 2026
In his Palm Sunday address in St. Peter’s Square, which fell a week before Easter, Pope Leo harshly criticized the war in Iran, saying, “(Jesus) does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but… pic.twitter.com/rhjhXhBpOD
The Trump Administration and its MAGA disciples are at war with the Pope.
In his Palm Sunday address in St. Peter’s Square, which fell a week before Easter, Pope Leo harshly criticized the war in Iran, saying, “(Jesus) does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them…. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.”
And in response, rather than choosing introspection, reflection, prayer, or God forbid, repentance, they have chosen violent opposition; criticizing, condemning, and slandering him for his calls for people of faith to also be people of peace.
But it’s critical to be clear on what is happening here: these Conservative Christians don’t despise Pope Leo, at least not primarily. They don’t hate him as much as they hate his Jesus…
Trump and his supporters have been othered as the distinction between the media and Candace Owens et al has become meaningless. No serious person should have believed the "Trump will nuke Iran" hoax, but it spread like wildfire, to be replaced by the TACO Trump hoax a day later.
The two hoaxes are self-contradictory, but when people are unmoored from reality, simple matters like rational consistency matter not at all.
From what I can tell, the hoaxes have worked through repetition, rewriting history, and memory-holing anything that contradicts their narrative.
It's depressing.
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