Cardinal Christophe Pierre has declined to comment on reports of a contentious meeting between United States defence officials and the Holy See’s representative in Washington.

The cardinal told the Catholic Herald he would not be drawn on the matter, saying simply, “I would prefer not to speak.” At a briefing in Rome, Holy See Press Office director Matteo Bruni also refused to comment when asked about the alleged Pentagon meeting, speaking after a press conference about the forthcoming apostolic journey of Pope Leo XIV to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

The reported meeting, said to have taken place in January, was first detailed in a report published on April 6, which claimed that senior Pentagon officials summoned Cardinal Pierre and warned that the Catholic Church should align itself more closely with American military policy.

According to the account published in the American press, one official told the nuncio, “America has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.” The remark was attributed to Elbridge Colby, the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.

However, sources have indicated to the Catholic Herald that while several US officials were present, the intervention did not in fact come from Colby but from another representative of the Department of Defense.

The Pentagon has rejected the characterisation of the meeting. A spokesman said the report was “highly exaggerated and distorted” and insisted that the discussion had been “a respectful and reasonable” exchange. He added: “We have nothing but the highest regard and welcome continued dialogue with the Holy See.”

The meeting is understood to have followed remarks made by the Pope to the diplomatic corps in which he warned against “the imperialist occupation of the world” and called on political leaders to abandon the “desire to dominate others”. US officials are believed to have interpreted those comments as a criticism of American foreign policy.

One participant in the January meeting is said to have mentioned the Avignon Papacy, drawing a comparison with the period when the papacy was widely regarded as subject to the influence of the French crown. Cardinal Pierre is reported to have listened without responding.

No official Vatican account of the meeting has been issued, and the refusal of senior figures to comment has left the substance of the exchange unclear.

However, in a statement to Our Sunday Visitor, the US Department of Defense confirmed the existence of the meeting at the Pentagon: “We can confirm that Cardinal Christophe Pierre had a meeting on January 22, 2026, at the Pentagon where he and several officials discussed current affairs,” the statement said.