New Delhi, April 9 -- The Donald Trump-led US government allegedly threatened Pope Leo XIV's ambassador with invoking the Avignon Papacy, according to the Letters from Leo report. Pope Leo XIV's then-ambassador to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, was summoned by US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby in January.

The development comes against the backdrop of foreign policy disagreements and the first American-born pope's opposition to the Trump-Vance administration's mass deportation policy.

Alarmed by the Pentagon's move, Vatican officials reportedly dropped plans for Pope Leo XIV's visit to the United States later this year. According to The Free Press and the Letters from Leo report, Colby and other offi...