Reports suggest American-born Pope Leo XIV could avoid traveling to the United States for as long as President Donald Trump remains in office, following claims of friction between the Vatican and the Pentagon.
Pope Leo XIV — born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955 — has repeatedly criticized Trump-era positions, with particular focus on immigration and military conflict.
Earlier this week, The Free Press published an analysis exploring what it described as a deterioration in Washington’s ties with the first American pontiff.
The report says that after the Pope’s annual January address to the Vatican’s diplomatic corps — where he condemned countries pushing toward conflict — the Pentagon made what the outlet called an “unprecedented” request to meet with Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who served at the time as Leo’s personal envoy to the United States.
Vatican and US officials who spoke to The Free Press claimed the Pentagon took issue with the Pope’s January remarks, viewing them as attacks aimed at Trump’s agenda.
One Vatican source told the outlet the most sensitive point involved Leo’s apparent skepticism toward the “Donroe Doctrine” — Trump’s version of the Monroe Doctrine asserting US dominance across the Western Hemisphere.
The Pentagon’s reaction was reportedly tied to a comment from the Pope warning that ‘a diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies’.
After that meeting, the report claims the Pope declined an invitation from Trump to attend events marking the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Rather than spending July 4 in the US, Leo is expected to travel to Lampedusa, the Italian island widely known as a key arrival point for African migrants entering Europe.
A Vatican official quoted by The Free Press said there are currently no plans for a US papal visit during Trump’s time in office.
“The Pope may well never visit the United States under this administration,” the official reportedly said.
US defense officials, however, pushed back strongly on the portrayal of the encounter, calling The Free Press account “highly exaggerated and distorted”.
“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,” a War Department official told The Independent.
The Pope’s criticism of Trump has also continued in recent months, including over the US’s armed intervention in Iran.
After Trump wrote on Truth Social and threatened to ‘wipe out’ Iran’s entire civilization, Leo responded with a statement describing the language as ‘truly unacceptable’.
“Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran. And this is truly unacceptable,” the Pope told reporters in Italy on Tuesday, shortly before Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
In his Wednesday remarks, the Pope said he was pleased by news of a pause in hostilities between the US and Iran.
“In light of these past hours of great tension for the Middle East and for the whole world, I welcome with satisfaction… the announcement of an immediate two-week truce,” he said.