The suburban Chicago home of a brother to Pope Leo XIV was the site of a false bomb threat Wednesday night.
Police in New Lennox, Illinois, responded at 6:29 p.m. on April 15 to a report of a possible bomb at the residence of John Prevost, an older brother of Robert Francis Prevost, now known worldwide as Pope Leo and the head of the Catholic Church.
According to a statement published to its Facebook page, the New Lennox Police Department dispatched officers to the home on Sojourn Road and evacuated nearby residents. Special units, including an explosive detection K9, surveilled the area.
« A thorough search of the residence and surrounding property was conducted. After careful examination, investigators determined that the threat was unsubstantiated and that no explosive devices or hazardous materials were present, » the police said in its statement.
No injuries occurred and residents returned to their homes the same evening. The false report remains under investigation.
Micah Nuesse, New Lenox chief of police, confirmed in an email the home was the residence of John Prevost. He told National Catholic Reporter that following protocol police will conduct extra patrols in the area and maintain an increased presence.
Nuesse added there were no updates in the investigation as of midday Thursday.
The threat comes amid a multi-day spat of verbal attacks levied by President Donald Trump and his administration against the pope, stemming largely from Leo’s denunciations of the U.S. war in Iran.
On the evening of April 12, Trump posted on his Truth Social online platform that Leo « is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. »
« I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, » Trump said.
The comments came following a story on « 60 Minutes, » the CBS News television magazine, that featured three prominent U.S. cardinals and strong allies of Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, voicing criticisms of the Trump administration’s war in Iran and its crackdown on immigration. The segment portrayed the pope’s own pushback as well against positions and actions taken by the U.S. president.
In his lengthy social media post, the president also expressed fondness for the oldest Prevost brother, Louis, who lives in Florida and has expressed support for Trump and met with him shortly after his brother’s election as pope. Louis Prevost sat alongside Vice President JD Vance and second lady Ursha Vance at the inaugural Mass of Leo’s pontificate.
« I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! » Trump wrote on Truth Social.
En route to a 11-day visit to four African countries, the pope responded to the president’s verbal critiques by saying he has « no fear of the Trump administration » and would continue speaking out as a peacemaker against war and abuses of the Gospel message.
« Too many people are suffering in the world today, too many innocent people are being killed, and someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way, » Leo told journalists aboard the papal plane April 13.
The home of the middle Prevost brother is 30 miles west from the home where he and his brothers grew up in Dolton, Illinois.
John Prevost described their childhood in the small Chicago suburb in an interview in December with NCR.
« It was a regular neighborhood. We knew most people on the block and it was in the days where you just went out and played. It was safe; parents trusted that you’d be safe if you ran away and came home for dinner. »
Pope Leo XIV’s visit to overwhelmingly Muslim-majority Algeria cast a spotlight on what he described as the « small, but very significant Catholic church » in the country, offering a lesson for a global church confronting a decline in adherents.
« Everyone must learn how to be a minority, » Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero of Rabat, Morocco, told the National Catholic Reporter and the French daily Le Monde during the pope’s visit to Algeria. « To be small is not a disgrace; it is a grace. It is not a tragedy; it is a good fortune to be a small church in service of the kingdom of God. »
In the city of Annaba, Leo visited the site of ancient Hippo, where the pope’s spiritual father St. Augustine lived and served as a bishop for more than three decades. The Augustinian religious order, to which the pope belongs, maintains a small presence of only three friars in the city to tend to the Basilica of St. Augustine which overlooks the archeological site.
Meeting with the local Augustinian community later in Annaba, the pope said that the tiny Augustinian community there « is much more at the heart of what Augustinian life, and consecrated life in the church, should be. »
« The world truly needs martyrdom, but martyrdom in the sense of testimony, giving testimony with your life, » he said. « Your presence here truly means a lot. »
More than 99% of Algeria’s population is Muslim. Catholics number roughly 9,000 in a population of 46.7 million, according to Vatican statistics.
López Romero said that Catholic communities in Christian-majority nations throughout Europe live in a state of « calamity, because there is a decline in those who adhere to the Catholic faith. »
But the Catholic communities in North Africa, « we live it as the grace of being small, to be the ‘little ones’ of which Jesus speaks, » the cardinal said. « We are happy to be small alongside a Muslim-majority population, and we live that with joy and with enthusiasm. »
The cardinal said that beyond its spiritual value, the pope chose to visit North Africa « to say that he is not a politician, [but] he is bringing the message of the Gospel. »
« What he wants to do is build bridges between Muslims and Christians and construct peace, » he said.
In the Basilica of St. Augustine, built in homage of the North African saint who is a doctor of the church and revered by the Algerian people, some 1,500 people gathered from across the region for Mass with the pope.
Justin Nsavyimana, a 23-year-old student from Burundi, traveled four hours by bus from the city where he studies in Algeria for the « once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be in the same place as the pope. »
Moving to Algeria as a Catholic was a challenge due to the few churches around, he told NCR; the nearest Catholic church to where he lives is 90-minutes away by bus.
Nsavyimana said he doesn’t know much about Pope Leo, but « I do love his ideas; he encourages friendliness and peace. »
Ana Paula Soares traveled to Algeria from Tunisia, where she is a missionary with the Shalom Catholic community and traveled with some 30 other missionaries.
She told NCR that the pope’s visit to North Africa « symbolizes the communion of the church » since Leo « forms part of that small but lively community where Christians are a minority. »
In her native Brazil, the church has « no direct contact with people because there are many Catholics, » Soares said. « Where Catholics are a minority, people know your name; the church is truly a family. »
« That the pope chose to come here shows that he is a missionary and wants to know the missionary reality, » she continued.
The same day Leo celebrated Mass in Annaba, the Vatican published a letter he had sent to the world’s cardinals where he wrote that the church must reassess how it communicates « from a more explicitly missionary perspective. »
The pope, who spent more than two decades of his priestly life as a missionary in Peru, will spend the rest of his trip through Africa in Christian-majority nations with significant Catholic communities: Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
He arrived in Yaoundé, Cameroon on April 15 and was received with great fanfare, a striking contrast from the muted and intimate atmosphere surrounding the pope’s visit in Algeria.
President Donald Trump’s attempt to strong-arm Pope Leo XIV via a Truth Social diatribe echoes a pattern seen across global history. Emperors, monarchs and despots have long threatened popes — and often failed — to bend them to their will. In an American context, however, Trump’s invective does represent a historic reversal. For most of this country’s history, Americans viewed the pope as a war-mongering, money-grubbing, anti-democratic menace who harbored imperial designs on the White House. Today, that menace is in the White House, and the pope is the one defending American ideals of liberty and human dignity. It’s especially ironic that the current pontiff is a U.S. citizen — and that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII (who was pontiff from 1878-1903), was the reigning pope during a particularly high point of anti-papal and anti-Catholic sentiment in America.
If you had entered « American pope » into a Google Image search before May 8, 2025, one of the top hits would have been a cartoon under that title that appeared in 1894. Published in Puck Magazine, a widely circulated satirical magazine of the late 19th century, it featured a rendering of Archbishop Francesco Satolli, who had been designated the first official Vatican representative to the United States a year before. Satolli’s appointment heartened U.S. Catholics, who yearned for a closer connection between their country and their church. But it horrified many U.S. Protestants, who believed any such alliance would undermine Americans’ commitment to democracy and religious freedom. The Puck cartoon illustrated those fears. Perched on top of a giant dome that resembled St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome but was branded « American headquarters, » Satolli cast a dark shadow over a crudely drawn U.S. map.
Instead of matching Satolli’s own countenance, the shadow evoked that of Leo XIII. Readers of Puck would have instantly recognized the caricature of Leo, who had often been depicted in its pages pursuing his two favorite endeavors: stealing money and stealing U.S. elections. « At it Again, » declared a November 1885 cartoon that pictured Leo inside a ballot box, stretching out his arms to tear down the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the establishment of a national religion.
From the early days of the republic, the majority Protestant population had fretted that Catholics’ allegiance to the pope — a temporal prince as well as spiritual leader — would compromise their loyalty to the United States. As the Catholic population increased, in large part through immigration, so, too, did anxieties about Catholic and papal power. Anti-Catholic and anti-papal sentiment intensified during periods of national turmoil.
Puck’s « American Pope » cartoon, for example, appeared in the middle of one of the worst economic depressions in the country’s history. Conspiracy theorists seized the moment, alleging that Pope Leo himself had orchestrated a run on U.S. banks, seeking to destabilize the country in preparation for a papal takeover. They insisted that Satolli, Leo’s new apostolic delegate, was simply part of his advance guard.
Concerns about papal meddling in U.S. affairs continued to shape the story of Catholics in America well into the 20th century. (They famously hamstrung New York’s Gov. Al Smith, the first Catholic nominee of a major political party, in his quest to win the U.S. presidency in 1928). U.S. Catholics embraced a hyperpatriotism that chipped away at these fears, but they didn’t dissipate significantly until the onset of the Cold War, when the United States and the Catholic Church found common cause in the battle against Communism. It was actually the church’s fierce anti-Communism that generated the first serious proposals that a U.S. Catholic might be elevated to the papacy. Writing in the Paulist publication The Catholic World in 1950, Rev. A.R. Pinzi suggested that cardinal-electors consider voting for one of the U.S. cardinals in the next conclave. An American pope, Pinzi argued, would be a deterrent against Communism because it would effectively foil any Communist plot to kidnap the pope.
Americans’ supposed commitment to religious freedom, the theory went, would lead them to protect one of their own at all costs. Should a European pontiff fall into Communist hands, Americans might not feel obligated to intervene. If, on the other hand, « an American were in peril of that holy office or his life, » it would be « Josef Stalin’s worst nightmare. » All U.S. citizens, « regardless of their own religious beliefs, » would rise up to defend religious freedom as energetically in Rome as they did at home.
Pope Leo has said that he isn’t afraid of Donald Trump, and he shouldn’t be. His own pontificate will surely outlast the Trump presidency, and the institution of the papacy has survived far worse threats throughout the last two millennia. But U.S. Catholics, and indeed all Americans, should be deeply troubled by Trump’s broadside against Pope Leo. In a twist that Pinzi could never have imagined, an American pope has now been threatened by a U.S. president. Will Americans, inspired by their fellow citizens, rise up to this outrageous threat against religious freedom — or will they tolerate it because it now resides in the White House?
Even before touching down in Algeria, Pope Leo XIV had already made headlines with his candid, airborne comments to reporters in response to an attack lodged against him by President Donald Trump on social media.
And immediately upon arrival, Leo stepped into uncharted territory for a pope, becoming the first leader of the Catholic Church to visit Algeria and bringing with him a message of reconciliation, justice and unity in the overwhelmingly Muslim-majority nation still reckoning with the wounds of its colonial past and the division of its decade-long civil war which ended in 2002.
The pope’s arrival in Algiers on April 13 marked the first stop on his ambitious 11-day, four-nation tour of the African continent where he will pay homage to his spiritual father, St. Augustine, and turn his gaze toward the demographic future of the church in sub-Saharan Africa.
On the flight to Algiers, the pope told journalists that his trip to Algeria was the first international voyage he wanted to embark on as pope, proposing the prospect shortly after his election in May 2025. His two other previous trips, to Turkey and Lebanon and a one-day visit to Monaco, came in response to invitations issued to his predecessors, Popes Francis and Benedict XVI, respectively.
As head of the Augustinian religious order, Leo had already visited Algeria twice; the order maintains a small presence in Annaba, the site of ancient Hippo where Augustine was a bishop.
Though Leo’s trip began in a country with a 99% Muslim population, his next stops will take him to Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea — Christian-majority nations with significant Catholic populations that increasingly make up a larger proportion of the global church.
In his first day, however, Leo advanced a stated objective of his trip to Algeria, to build « bridges between the Christian world and the Muslim world. » He met with government officials, the capital’s tiny Catholic community and visited the Great Mosque of Algiers – the world’s largest after the mosques in Mecca and Medina with a capacity of 120,000 people.
This is not Leo’s first visit to a mosque as pope, but it appeared to have been the first time he took a few moments to pray inside one.
Leo made headlines in December when during his visit to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque his first visit to a mosque, because it was not visibly clear that he prayed inside, unlike his two immediate predecessors, Francis and Benedict XVI, each of whom had both publicly prayed there during their visits to Turkey.
On Monday (April 13), however, Leo stood in silence for more than 30 seconds before the mosque’s qibla, the wall facing Mecca, alongside the mosque’s rector Mohamed Mamoun Al Qasimi.
The sober moment came after the two walked around the mosque’s sprawling interior in socks, as it is customary to remove one’s shoes upon entering a mosque.
Leo and Al Qasimi then stood side by side in front of the nearby journalists, in what was a much more choreographed visit than the pope’s mosque visit in Istanbul some four months ago.
Before that visit, the pope preached a message of justice and shared commitment for the common good in his meetings with government officials.
Although Algeria’s government is widely regarded as an authoritarian regime, Leo told government officials that « the true strength of a nation lies in the cooperation of everyone in pursuing the common good. »
« Authorities are called not to dominate, but to serve the people and foster their development, » he said at Algeria’s presidential palace. « Political action thus finds its guiding criterion in justice, without which there can be no authentic peace, and is expressed in the promotion of fair and dignified conditions for all. »
He urged leaders to pursue dialogue and allow themselves to be « moved by the pain of others, » which he said is « more urgent than ever in the face of continuous violations of international law and neocolonial tendencies. »
The pope told government officials that « the Catholic Church, too, through her communities and initiatives, wishes to contribute to the common good of Algeria. »
The Algerian government and the church have had their fair share of tensions in recent years: The government shut down the church’s local Caritas charitable organization in 2022 because it was considered a « foreign nongovernmental organization. » French-born and Algerian-nationalized Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, who accompanied the pope throughout his day in Algiers, has been a key figure in smoothing over the church’s relationship with the government.
Although Algeria only has about 9,000 Catholics in a country of 46.7 million the pope received the red carpet treatment when he visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, where an inscription in the church’s apse asks Mary to « pray for us and for the Muslims. »
In addressing the jubilant crowd, Leo recalled the 19 Catholic martyrs who were killed in Algeria’s civil war while serving Christian and Muslim communities.
« In the face of hatred and violence, they remained faithful to charity even to the point of sacrificing themselves alongside many other men and women, Christians and Muslims, » the pope said.
« Peace and harmony have been fundamental characteristics of the Christian community from its very beginnings, » he continued. « Faith does not isolate, but opens us up; it unites us, but does not create confusion; it brings us closer, without homogenizing, and fosters true fraternity. »
President Donald J. Trump published a lengthy attack on Pope Leo XIV on Sunday night, calling the first U.S.-born pope « terrible on Foreign Policy, » citing Leo’s opposition to the ongoing war in Iran and U.S. military action in Venezuela and stating that his pontificate is hurting the church.
« I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon, » Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday night. « I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History. »
Trump made similar comments to reporters on Sunday gathered at Joint Base Andrews.
Trump’s post came shortly after « 60 Minutes » aired an interview featuring three U.S. Cardinals – Blase Cupich of Chicago, Joseph Tobin of Newark and Robert McElroy of Washington – who were critical of Trump’s foreign policy objectives and his deportation strategies at home.
In introducing the « 60 Minutes » segment, CBS News journalist Norah O’Donnell said that Leo had become « increasingly outspoken » against the Trump administration’s policies, and that the pope has emerged as a voice of moral opposition to the war in Iran and the administration’s mass deportation campaign.
O’Donnell asked the three cardinals whether they would like to see Leo be even more outspoken on issues that he disagrees with. Tobin said that the pope is « the pastor of the world, he’s not a pundit. »
« So the distinction is that he’s not going to pronounce on everything, but he’s going to pronounce on what’s important, » Tobin said.
On April 7, Trump threatened Iran, posting on social media, « a whole civilization will die, » which prompted Leo to respond, saying such threats were « truly unacceptable. » On Saturday, Leo led a prayer service for peace in Rome, and while he did not mention Trump by name, his comments seemed aimed at the ongoing war.
« Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! » the pope said. « True strength is shown in serving life. »
In his post on Truth Social, Trump praised Leo’s brother, Louis, whom he hosted at the White House last year, and he also took credit for Leo’s election as pope.
« Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise, » Trump wrote on Truth Social. « He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. »
« If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican, » Trump wrote.
In his post, Trump also accused the pope of being « WEAK on crime, » and said that his pontificate is bad for the church.
« Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church! » Trump wrote.
After a Holy Week in which he ramped up his previously restrained antiwar rhetoric, Pope Leo XIV is not taking his foot off the gas, issuing an emphatic appeal for world leaders to abandon the pursuit of power and work for peace.
« Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! » the pope said at a prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica April 11. « True strength is shown in serving life. »
Leo announced the uncommon and unprompted prayer vigil in his Easter Sunday address April 5, giving the pontiff another yet occasion to make the case for world peace following his Holy Week celebrations in which the theme of peace featured prominently.
In his speech, delivered after praying the rosary, Leo directly addressed world leaders on behalf of the « millions and billions of men and women, young and old, who today choose to believe in peace, caring for the wounds and repairing the damage left behind by the madness of war. »
« To them we cry out: Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided! » he said.
Though not referencing any specific conflict by name, the pope invoked the legacy of St. John Paul II, recalling his predecessor’s efforts to avert the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Then, the Polish pope made numerous appeals to prevent the war’s outbreak and sent Cardinal Pio Laghi, former Vatican ambassador to the United States, to talk President George W. Bush out of the invasion and deliver the president a letter from the pope.
Laghi later described the Iraq war as « illegal and unjust. » Discussing the Iran war on April 7, Leo told reporters that many people have called the war in Iran « unjust, » a term rooted in Catholic just war teaching for conflicts that fail to meet moral criteria.
The pope’s speech at the prayer vigil also came after a January meeting was revealed to have taken place between Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s most recent ambassador to the United States, and Pentagon officials. The Free Press, which initially reported the meeting, described the meeting as an effort by Pentagon officials to insist that the United States can exert its military might however it sees fit and that the Catholic Church « had better take its side. »
The Department of Defense and U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch both disputed that characterization of the meeting, with Burch quoting Pierre to describe the reporting around the meeting as « fabrications. »
At the pope’s prayer service, attended by 36 cardinals and patriarchs and 50 bishops, the pope said that prayer is not « an anesthetic to numb the pain provoked by so much injustice, » but rather in prayer human thoughts, words and deeds « break the demonic cycle of evil and are placed at the service of the Kingdom of God. »
« A Kingdom in which there is no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialization of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness, » the pope said.
Prayer, he continued, is « a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive, » particularly at a time when « the balance within the human family has been severely destabilized. »
In his remarks Leo echoed his Palm Sunday homily in which he stated that Jesus « does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, » presenting a striking contrast to the religious rhetoric of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth who has repeatedly invoked Jesus’ name in public prayers for the United States’ victory in the war in Iran.
« Even the holy name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death, » Leo said at the vigil. « Those who pray are aware of their own limitations; they do not kill or threaten with death. »
« Instead, death enslaves those who have turned their backs on the living God, turning themselves and their own power into a mute, blind and deaf idol, to which they sacrifice every value, demanding that the whole world bend its knee, » he said.
Beyond the basilica, pilgrims also gathered outside in the breezy Roman afternoon to join in the vigil from St. Peter’s Square; Leo stopped in the square to greet them and thank them for their participation.
« We want to say to the whole world that it is possible to build peace, a new peace, » the pope told them before entering the basilica. « That it is possible to live together, all people, of all religions, of all races, that we want to be disciples of Jesus Christ united as brothers and sisters, all united in a world of peace. »
A peculiar meeting at the Pentagon between apostolic nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who serves as Pope Leo XIV’s U.S. representative, and a senior Department of Defense official has led to a flurry of speculation and concern about the relationship between the Pentagon and the Vatican.
The January meeting was first reported by The Free Press earlier this week, which claimed Pentagon officials warned the Vatican « the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants » and the Catholic Church should take its side. Within hours, the report sparked statements from U.S. and Vatican officials, with varying accounts and interpretations of the meeting emerging over the next day as a wave of discourse erupted among Vatican-watchers and other Catholics.
« It was like inviting a vegetarian to a barbecue, » papal biographer Massimo Faggioli, a professor of ecclesiology at Trinity College Dublin, told RNS April 9. « That is the building where the orders to wage war come from, and that is by itself not a natural place to have a meeting with a representative of a global organization like the Catholic Church, which is known for efforts to stop wars. »
In a statement sent to RNS on Wednesday, the Department of Defense confirmed the meeting occurred but disputed the Free Press’ assessment of what transpired, calling the story highly « exaggerated and distorted. » The Defense Department also wrote on X that Elbridge Colby, under secretary of war for policy, who reports to Secretary Pete Hegseth’s deputy, « had a substantive, respectful, and professional meeting, » with Pierre, where they discussed « issues of morality in foreign policy, the logic of the U.S. National Security Strategy, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and other topics. »
In a separate statement to RNS, the nunciature did not dispute The Free Press’ reporting, but wrote that « meetings with government officials are a standard practice for the Nuncio, » adding that « the Apostolic Nunciature is grateful for the opportunities to meet and dialogue with government officials and others in Washington to discuss areas of mutual concern. »
Late Thursday, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See published a thread on X saying Pierre had spoken to Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, after the Free Press report was published. According to the thread, Pierre allegedly told Burch the media’s portrayal of the meeting « does not reflect what happened » and was « just invented to make a story. » The embassy said Pierre described the meeting as « frank, but very cordial. »
The nuncio’s office did not respond to multiple requests to confirm the account forwarded by Burch and the embassy regarding the alleged conversation with Pierre. However, on Friday, the Vatican press office issued a statement saying the Pentagon meeting occurred « within the regular mission of the Pontifical Representative and provided an opportunity for an exchange of views regarding matters of mutual interest. » The statement also said the « narrative offered by some media outlets regarding this meeting is completely untrue. »
Meanwhile, an X message by a Vatican official, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, undersecretary for the Dicastery for Culture and Education, may indicate how the Vatican is positioning itself as a bridge-builder, despite increasingly strident anti-war rhetoric from Leo. Spadaro, who acknowledged the meeting was « unusual, » wrote that as « international language is increasingly dominated by the logic of force, deterrence, and security, » Vatican diplomacy aims to present an alternate approach of « listening, dialogue, persistence. »
The Free Press report inspired widespread concern on social media, including from Rep. Ted Lieu, D-California, a Catholic, who wrote on X about concerns the U.S. military would try to attack the Vatican, though most other observers did not seem to expect military action against the Vatican.
Though the Free Press is not known for reporting on the Catholic Church, the reporter behind the story, Mattia Ferraresi, who typically writes for Italian newspaper Domani, is well-regarded by some Vatican experts.
« He has been for many years the New York correspondent of an important Italian newspaper who is very cautious and attentive to American issues, » Faggioli said. « This journalist has important contacts in the United States. »
Faggioli, the author of several books about Pope Francis, Catholicism in U.S. politics, and church history, said that holding such a meeting at the Pentagon was an inappropriate diplomatic gesture, adding to a growing sense among church leaders that the U.S. administration is « destructive. » Though, he said, « This is not the first time that the Trump administration makes gestures that violate certain basic rules of relations with the Vatican. »
However, Faggioli said the impacts of Trump administration policies on immigrant Catholics in the U.S. amid the mass deportation efforts, and Catholics in the Middle East during the Iran war, in addition to impacts on non-Catholics, have moved the church to a new stance. « In some sense, this is the second beginning of Pope Leo’s pontificate, » Faggioli said. « Pope Leo has been more cautious and more disciplined, but he has been pushed out of that caution because the situation has escalated. »
The Free Press reported that DoD officials objected to what they viewed as implied Vatican criticism of the Trump administration’s foreign policy in a January speech to diplomats, when Leo said, « A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force. »
Much of the debate surrounding the meeting has centered on the allegation in the Free Press reporting that a Pentagon official referenced the Avignon Papacy during the meeting. RNS asked officials at both DoD and the nuncio’s office about the allegation. Officials at the nuncio’s office did not directly respond to the question, and a DoD spokesperson declined to comment. In an X post, Burch claimed that Pierre denied mention of the Avignon Papacy.
Matthew Gabriele, a professor of medieval studies at Virginia Tech, said discussion of the Avignon Papacy unsettles many Catholics because it recalls a particularly bleak period in church history beginning in the 14th century.
« The French king at the time, Philip IV — also known as Philip the Fair because he had fair skin, not because he was particularly nice — exerted pressure on the papacy and basically kidnapped the pope and installed him at Avignon, » said Gabriele, who also runs the « American Medieval » podcast. « Avignon was very convenient for the French king because it was technically still in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire, but very close to the French border. So the French king could exert control over the papacy. »
Gabriele explained that in addition to influencing the pontiff on day-to-day matters, the French king also likely had an impact on the selection of new popes. Unlike modern conclaves, when cardinals eligible to elect a pope are secluded from the outside world, prelates who selected pontiffs at the time were potentially subject to intimidation, including military threats.
« If you had a whole bunch of soldiers in the room — French royal soldiers, for example — you could really decide who becomes the next pope, » Gabriele said. « That’s effectively what happened throughout much of the Avignon Papacy. »
In confirming the meeting, both the U.S. nunciature and the Pentagon specified that the meeting took place on Jan. 22, four days after Timothy Broglio, archbishop of the Military Services, USA, told the BBC it « would be morally acceptable » for troops to disobey an immoral order. Their confirmations contradict the timing the Free Press reported, which portrays Broglio’s comments as occurring after the meeting and part of building tension that ensued afterward.
« I think we need to understand this meeting in the context of the whole illegal orders controversy, » said Peter Campbell, an associate professor of political science at Baylor University in Texas, who studies the military.
Prior to the meeting, the Trump administration had sought a grand jury indictment against six Democratic lawmakers, who appeared in a November video urging U.S. military members to refuse illegal orders, which President Donald Trump suggested in a social media post was an offense « punishable by death. » Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin told The New York Times she had organized the video after she had heard concerns from troops about the legality of attacks on alleged drug traffickers.
Campbell said the Pentagon’s messaging about those kinds of comments stem from concerns that the chain of command is being undermined.
Though Broglio did not publicly criticize the Trump administration’s military decisions as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — a post he held until last November — as those legality questions were raised in December, Broglio called the « intentional killing of noncombatants » illegal and immoral.
Broglio’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the January Pentagon meeting.
Campbell speculated that, given the timing of the meeting, « It’s probably just that the Trump administration was trying to let the Vatican know in no uncertain terms that they don’t appreciate what they see as attacks on the policy of the United States when it comes to immigration and when it comes to their war on drugs. »
Some Catholic insiders suspect the precise contents of the meeting will remain a mystery. In a post on X, author and commentator the Rev. James Martin, who also serves as a consultor to the Vatican’s communications department, said he had « no doubt » that government officials « could have spoken bluntly, even rudely, to Cardinal Christophe Pierre. » Even so, he suggested a diplomat at the famously reticent Vatican is unlikely to offer details to the press.
« I highly doubt that Cardinal Pierre, a smart man, a kind priest, and, above all, a consummate diplomat, will ever say anything about what was said on the record, » Martin wrote. « Nor will the Holy See or the current nuncio. »
As U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited Hungary to support its government ahead of April 12 parliamentary elections, local Catholics voiced anxieties about their country’s future after a bitterly fought campaign.
« Both the Catholic and reformed churches have claimed complete neutrality — however, given their political entanglements, no one has taken this seriously, » explained Tibor Görföl, editor of Hungary’s Catholic Vigilia monthly.
« If you’re a Catholic and you don’t fully back the government, it’s seen as grave disloyalty. This is why we face serious problems here, » Görföl said.
The lay Catholic spoke as the preelection battle climaxed between veteran Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his challenger, Péter Magyar, amid signs that Orbán’s national-conservative Fidesz party could be ousted after 16 years in power.
In an early April report, Hungary’s Christian Axioma Center said Fidesz had « followed Christian values » more closely than Magyar’s Tisza (« Freedom and Respect ») party on issues from abortion and euthanasia to marriage, family and gender.
However, in an OSV News interview, Görföl said Fidesz had used AI-generated videos and stories to « spread fear and anxiety, » leaving many Hungarians unsure « what’s real and what is fake. »
Meanwhile, another prominent Catholic agreed the campaign had been « full of hatred and misrepresentation, » and told OSV News there were signs of growing Catholic resistance to the acerbic style of Hungarian politics.
« Although the government has attempted to portray its opponents as anti-Christian, Magyar has sent clear messages, publicly and privately, that he’ll maintain a positive attitude to the churches, » said András Máté-Tóth, a religious studies professor at Szeged University.
« Far from instrumentalizing them, he’s promised they’ll be able to work autonomously, free from the direct government interference of the Orbán era. Although not a practicing Catholic, he’s closer to Catholic social teaching than Orbán, » he said.
Heading Fidesz since 1993, Orbán has been widely accused of authoritarian governance after four successive election wins since 2010, and has defied Western sanctions by buying Russian oil and refusing aid to neighboring war-torn Ukraine.
He’s also gained prominence in some Church circles for claiming to defend Europe’s Christian traditions — with restricting LGBTQ groups’ rights being one of Fidesz’s most visible slogans — at the same time using wide powers granted by the Fidesz-dominated parliament to block media freedom and migration.
Pope Francis criticized such politics during his May 2023 visit to Hungary, saying it was « sad and painful » to see doors closed to people who were « unlike us, » including « migrants or the poor. »
Magyar has challenged Fidesz’s domination as leader of Tisza since 2024, and has pledged to tackle corruption, restore legality and return Hungary, a NATO and European Union member, to a more pro-Western path.
The Catholic-educated Magyar has used St. John Paul II’s invocation « Be not afraid » as a campaign and social media slogan, and has pledged to maintain public funding for churches, while ensuring greater fairness and transparency.
With faltering public services and rampant inflation dampening support for Fidesz, Vance vigorously reiterated U.S. support for Orbán after arriving in Budapest April 8.
However, Görföl said Vance’s visit appeared to contradict Orbán’s insistence of Hungarian sovereignty and noninterference by outside powers, adding that he doubted the Catholic U.S. vice president was sufficiently « known and heard » to affect the prime minister’s chances.
Hungary’s Catholic bishops pledged in October 2025 to avoid the election campaign, noting that public discourse had « become extremely crude, often involving baseless sensationalism and slander. »
No mention was made of the ballot at the bishops’ March 3-4 spring plenary in Budapest or in Easter messages carried by the Church’s Magyar Kurir news agency.
However, Fidesz’s campaign was criticized by Bishop Asztrik Varseghi, retired archabbot of Pannonhalma, in a statement to the religious portal Szemlélek, as well as by Hungary’s Military Bishop Tibor Berta, who said he had recently declined a government honor to avoid claims of « a merger of government and Church. »
Meanwhile, the historic Pannonhalma monastery’s current archabbot, Benedictine Bishop Cirill Hortobágyi, warned many Hungarians had been shocked by methods used to « discredit, destroy and morally nullify » political opponents, and looked « to the future with tension and anxiety, » fearing the erosion of « community, nation and homeland. »
« A person with Christian values cannot approve of such methods, cannot consider those who hold different opinions as enemies, » the archabbott said in his Easter message.
Hungary’s 3,000-member ecumenical Association of Christian Intellectuals issued voter guidance April 7 on evaluating election candidates, urging Hungarians not to « make an idol of politics », but to remember the « ultimate point of reference » for Christians was « not a political leader but Christ. »
Asked about the post-election prospects for Catholics, Görföl told OSV News the Hungarian Church « completely lacked » a « public culture, » leaving no possibilities to discuss rival ideas and disagreements.
However, Máté-Tóth said he believed the church’s official silence during the campaign, in contrast to previous elections, could be interpreted as « criticism of Orbán’s political style. »
« Change is never rapid or total in the Church, » the religious studies professor, who is also a faculty member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, told OSV News.
« But the silence of Catholic bishops and priests, associations and publications, carries its own significance, as many express negative feelings against this long-established government. »
On Monday (April 6), NASA astronauts finally were about to commence Artemis II’s flyby of the moon, the first such close observance of Earth’s satellite in nearly 60 years. The four astronauts had spent days on the Orion spacecraft, hurtling toward the moon, and they were about to travel farther away from Earth than any human being in history.
But moments before the crew would enter into roughly 40 minutes of radio silence as they passed behind the moon, the voice of astronaut Victor Glover — who has been open about his Christian faith and worships at Churches of Christ congregations in Texas — crackled over the broadcast channel to offer a message of love.
« As we continue to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos, I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries there on Earth — and that’s love, » said Glover. « Christ said, in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all that you are. And he also, being a great teacher, said this: ‘I give you equal to it, and that is to love your neighbor as yourself.' »
Glover added: « And so, as we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still able to feel your love from Earth and to all of you down there on Earth, and around the Earth, we love you from the moon. »
The spiritual appeal recalled perhaps one of the most widely broadcast moments of religious expression: the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, when three astronauts read from Genesis on live television as they, too, orbited the moon. Both missions also happened to coincide with religious holidays: Apollo 8 circled the moon on Christmas Eve, and the 10-day Artemis II mission overlapped with the Christian celebration of Easter and the Jewish holiday of Passover.
But for all their similarities, the four astronauts participating in the Artemis II mission have collectively showcased a broader, more pluralistic approach to public religious expression than the three men who rode aboard Apollo 8. It’s a subtle change that showcases NASA’s evolving relationship to public displays of faith, a tonal shift that likely traces its origins to the legal challenges that followed the reading of Genesis aboard the lunar module back in 1968.
Much of the God-talk on the Artemis mission has centered on Glover, who is also the most publicly religious astronaut on the mission. He reportedly brought a Bible along with him for the 10-day journey in space, which is something he’s done before: He told The Christian Chronicle in 2020 that he had a Bible and Communion cups sent to the International Space Station in preparation for his arrival aboard a Space X capsule in November of that year. At the time, Glover suggested he planned to worship virtually with his church while in orbit, as he had been doing throughout the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NASA officials did not offer a direct response when asked by Religion News Service if Glover or other Artemis II astronauts have made special arrangements to worship while aboard the Orion capsule. But Glover did offer some public religious reflection while hurtling toward the moon over the weekend, when CBS reporter Mark Strassmann asked him to comment on the journey’s overlap with Easter.
« When I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us who were created, it’s you have this amazing place, this spaceship. You guys are talking to us because we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe and the cosmos, » Glover said.
He added that whether listeners « believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that … we got to get through this together. »
A similar sentiment was expressed a few days before the astronauts blasted off from Earth. A reporter in the press pool asked the astronauts about traveling to the moon during Easter. Reid Wiseman, Artemis II’s commander, and the two other astronauts — Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — all glanced over to Glover, who said something inaudible that sparked a chuckle among the group.
Wiseman then stepped forward and acknowledged the legacy of Apollo 8, gearing his answer to a multireligious audience.
« We have our own different opinions, our own individual opinions and our own individual beliefs, » he said, gesturing to his fellow astronauts. « I think that’s one of the best parts about this mission right now: As we have said from the beginning, we really are for all, by all, and we want to take the whole world along with us. »
Wiseman then referenced Ramadan — « we just came out of a very important Muslim holiday » — noting that it ended less than a month before Easter.
« I think that that’s great — that we celebrate all of this all the way around the world, » he said.
It’s a different tone than the one struck by astronauts aboard the Apollo 8 mission.
Whereas Artemis II shot past the moon only once before heading back to Earth, the Apollo 8 mission entered into lunar orbit, circling Earth’s satellite multiple times over the course of 20 hours. As the astronauts rounded the planet for the ninth time, all three astronauts — William Anders (a Catholic at the time), Jim Lovell (Presbyterian) and Frank Borman (Episcopalian) — took turns reading from the Book of Genesis on a broadcast, reciting verses 1-10 from the King James translation of the Bible. The men read from the mission’s flight manual, where the Scripture passages had been printed after Christine Laitin suggested them to her husband, a government official assisting with the mission.
« From the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you — all of you on the good Earth, » Borman said.
« I arrived on a planet with a proper mass to have the gravity to retain water and an atmosphere — the essentials for life. I arrived on a planet orbiting a star at just the right distance to absorb that star’s energy, » he said. « In my mind, the answer was clear: God gave mankind a stage on which to perform. How the play ends is up to us. »
That broadcast prompted a lawsuit from atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who argued it violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause. Although the U.S. Supreme Court eventually threw out the case due to « want of jurisdiction » — presumably referring to space — historians have long argued the lawsuit had a lasting impact on NASA, as astronauts were effectively discouraged from openly engaging in worship or religious activity during a mission.
In the intervening years, it has become common for astronauts to speak publicly about religious practices that occurred during their missions, even as the space-farers and NASA have taken pains to avoid giving a specific faith tradition center stage as on Apollo 8. Bibles were brought to the moon and returned in the Apollo era, and Christians of several varieties brought crucifixes, icons and other religious symbols with them aboard various rockets. Teams of Islamic scholars were convened to help guide Muslim astronauts who wanted to pray and maintain their religious observance while orbiting Earth on the International Space Station — including during Ramadan. Jewish astronauts have brought Torah scrolls aboard the space shuttles, with one reading from Genesis while in orbit.
Sometimes religious expression can be more subtle. Aboard the Artemis II, the personal mission patch worn by Canadian astronaut Hansen includes references to spirituality embraced by Indigenous communities he has spent time with. According to the Canadian government, his patch, which was designed by Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond, includes a representation of the « Seven Sacred Laws, a traditional First Nations teaching shared with (Hansen) in preparation for his journey around Grandmother Moon. »
But while religious ritual is space is common, the profundity of a moon mission appears to have inspired Artemis astronauts to broaden their public religious appeals. It’s an approach that may be drawn from the wisdom of past astronauts: Wiseman’s desire to « take the whole world along with us » is reminiscent of Aldrin’s thoughts on his moon Communion. In his 2010 memoir, he explained he now envisions major space missions as something for all people — be they religious or otherwise.
« We had come to space in the name of all mankind — be they Christians, Jews, Muslims, animists, agnostics, or atheists, » Aldrin wrote. « But at the time I could think of no better way to acknowledge the Apollo 11 experience than by giving thanks to God. »
Catholics across the ideological spectrum, including Pope Leo XIV, expressed alarm and condemned President Donald Trump’s threat that « a whole civilization will die tonight » unless Iran strikes a deal with the United States by 8 p.m. Eastern on April 7.
Leo XIV called the threats « truly unacceptable » and said that such attacks would violate international law. In some of his strongest comments yet against the war, Leo urged Americans and others to demand that political leaders reject war and work for peace.
« Today as we all know there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable, » he said as he left his country house in Castel Gandolfo, according to The Washington Post.
Leo on Easter appealed for peace and rejected war. He will lead a prayer vigil for peace on April 11 at St. Peter’s Basilica.
On April 7, the pope urged people to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives and to remind them that attacks on civilian infrastructure are « against international law » and a « sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction human beings are capable of, and we all want to work for peace, » according to the Post.
Theologians, priests, academics, authors, media personalities, bishops and others took to social media platforms April 7 to warn that military strikes on civilian targets and infrastructure in Iran would constitute grave evils and violate the Catholic Church’s just war tradition.
« Unfortunately, if President Trump carries out his threat, two civilizations will die and humanity will be left wounded, » Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, Spain, wrote on X.
Argüello, who has served as president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference since 2024, called on Catholics to pray for peace. He also said that the « end, which in this case is not even good, never justifies the means. »
Also writing on X, Fr. John Naugle, a Catholic writer who serves as a priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, said Trump’s rhetoric was « indefensible » and « satanic. » Leah Libresco Sargeant, a Catholic author, wrote that « American soldiers must refuse orders to commit war crimes. »
In an April 7 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned that civilization in Iran would end, « never to be brought back again, » if the Iranian regime did not meet his demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid the bombing campaign that the United States and Israel have been waging since Feb. 28.
« I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will, » said Trump, who made similar comments during a White House press briefing on April 6, when he told journalists that « the entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night. »
The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported on April 7 that Iran had cut off direct communications with the U.S. over Trump’s threat to destroy the country’s « whole civilization. »
On social media, Trump held out hope that « less radicalized minds » would prevail and that « maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen. »
« WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World, » Trump wrote.
That bellicose rhetoric prompted Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to release a statement urging Trump to « step back from the precipice of war and negotiate a just settlement for the sake of peace and before more lives are lost. »
« The threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified. There are other ways to resolve conflict between peoples, » said Coakley, who underscored Pope Leo XIV’s recent calls for peace in the Middle East.
« God have mercy, » Simcha Fisher, a Catholic writer, also said on Facebook in reference to Trump’s social media post.
Charlie Camosy, a moral theologian, wrote on X that « war crimes are war crimes, regardless of who commits them. » He added that U.S. military personnel « should refuse to participate in war crimes. »
Catholic theologian Michael Lofton also took to X to criticize faith leaders who he said « have failed » to confront Trump.
« Blood will be on their hands if this deranged man murders civilians tonight, » Lofton wrote.
Christopher Hale, a Catholic who has previously run for Congress as a Democrat, wrote on X that « no Catholic can support » Trump. Hale, who runs the Letters from Leo blog, also said it was time for Catholics to stand together against Trump’s « tyrannical regime. »
Criticisms also came from traditionalist and conservative-leaning Catholics on social media.
« If [Trump] issues such an order, it will be the duty of military leaders to refuse to comply, » Robert George, a Catholic and conservative legal professor at Princeton University, wrote on X.
Edward Feser, a Catholic philosopher, described Trump’s social media post as « an unspeakably evil threat. »
« Every soldier has the duty to disobey orders to carry this out, every government official has the duty to do whatever is in his power to stop it, every [churchman] has the duty to speak out against it, every citizen to resist in any moral way possible, » Feser wrote on X.
Candace Owens, a Catholic convert and controversial right-wing influencer who often dabbles in conspiracy theories, called for Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment. Trump, Owens wrote, is « a genocidal lunatic. »
E. Michael Jones, a traditionalist Catholic writer who has espoused antisemitic views, said the time « had come for the military to refuse to cooperate with orders like this. » Eric Sammons, the editor in chief of Crisis Magazine, a right-wing Catholic publication, wrote that Trump’s actions were helping to lead our (already dying) civilization to its grave. »
In his prepared statement, Coakley mentioned Leo’s uopcoming peace vigil. He said: « I make a special plea to my brother bishops, the priests, the laity, and all people yearning for true peace to join the Holy Father’s Vigil for Peace, whether virtually, or in parishes, chapels, or before the Lord present in the quiet of their hearts to join with our Holy Father as we pray for peace in our world. »
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Les Chevaliers de Colomb sont la plus grande organisation de service fraternel familial catholique au monde, avec 1,8 million de membres. Elle offre aux membres et à leurs familles des possibilités de bénévolat au service de l'Église catholique, de leurs communautés, des familles et des jeunes.
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L'adhésion aux Chevaliers de Colomb est ouverte aux hommes catholiques pratiquants en union avec le Saint-Siège, âgés d'au moins 18 ans. Un catholique pratiquant est une personne qui vit selon les commandements de Dieu et les préceptes de l'Église. Les formulaires de demande sont disponibles auprès de tout membre des Chevaliers de Colomb.Si vous souhaitez rejoindre les Chevaliers de Colomb, veuillez contacter notre président des adhésions, Mike Lenzi, au (973) 533-9791 ou envoyez un courriel à contact@kofc3533.org.
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