Washington's attack on Iran alongside Israel has come under repeat condemnation from the Vatican, leaving US relations very strained. What hasn't helped things are widespread allegations that US officials berated the Vatican's top diplomat in Washington.
Pentagon and Vatican officials are denying reports that US authorities gave the Holy See’s ambassador a "bitter lecture" demanding the Church align with the Trump administration following criticism of the Iran war by Pope Leo XIV.
"Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran. And this is truly unacceptable," the pope had told reporters Tuesday evening in Italy, in reaction to Trump threatening to wipe out a whole "civilization".
"There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more, it is a moral question concerning the good of the people as a whole, in its entirety," the pontiff added.
The Pentagon has meanwhile also rejected claims that the Vatican's US envoy was summoned in January for the "bitter" reprimand.
The Free Press had specifically reported that Cardinal Christophe Pierre received a "bitter lecture" from US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby.
Colby is said to have told the Vatican representative that Washington "has the military power to do whatever it wants — and that the Church had better take its side."
The report also stated that a US official referenced the Avignon Papacy, when the French crown used military force to dominate papal authority in the 14th century. The suggestion was that the US could overpower and dominate the papacy - or something along those lines.
But again, both sides appear to be denying the entirety of this, instead saying the exchange was actually normal and cordial.
Pope Leo XIV has also lately condemned what he described as "diplomacy based on force" - and most recently in his Easter blessing he urged "those who have the power to unleash wars" to "choose peace."
So certainly there are tensions due to the Iran war. Among the most visible Catholics at the White House is Vice President JD Vance, who is now heading up the US delegation in Pakistan to negotiate peace and the reopening of Hormuz with the Iranians.