Christopher Hale

His vice president is, I think, the top candidate, leading candidate in 2028, who converted to Catholicism in 2019.

If he had any integrity, if he had any fidelity to his faith, he would stand up to Donald Trump and even resign his office tonight.

Donald Trump has attacked his vice president's pope, his faith.

And I don't think he will step up, but he should own this.

He should own what's happening here.

And it should hang around his neck the next few years as he attempts to become the next president.

Well, I must say that this report originated with the Free Press, and we were able to confirm it throughout the day.

But here's how the story goes.

In early January, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, as you mentioned, who was up until last month, Pope Leo's personal nuncio, which is Vatican's feat for ambassador to the United States, was strangely called not to the State Department, mind you.

He is a diplomat, but actually directly to the Pentagon, which is strange in itself.

And then while he was there at the Pentagon, there was a meeting with the Undersecretary of State.

And in this meeting, it suggested that Cardinal Christophe Pierre, that they were upset with Pope Leo XIV's early January address to the Vatican, to the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, where he said that war is back in vogue.

There is a zeal for war.

and that the rule of law regarding the territory of nations have been violated.

Mind you, this speech took place days after Trump's invasion of Venezuela.

So the administration was correct to read this as a critique of their policy, obviously global in nature, but yes, of what they had done in Venezuela and what they were threatening at that point to do in Greenland and what they've done now in Iran just months later.

So when he came in, it was tense.

And one of the diplomats suggested, brought up the Avignon Papacy, which you mentioned earlier.

For your readers, the Avignon Papacy was this 14th century phenomenon where the French regime was upset with the papacy.

So not only did they influence the papacy, they kidnapped the pope.