STRANGER THAN FICTION

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The Pentagon denied threatening the Vatican during a late January meeting with the Holy See’s then-envoy to the U.S., as Pope Leo XIV has warned against the growing use of military action in recent months.

The Pentagon’s policy office head, Elbridge Colby, met with Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s former diplomat to the U.S., on Jan. 22 at the Pentagon, during which he warned the then-envoy that the U.S. military has the “power to do whatever it wants — and that the Church had better take its side,” 

The outlet, citing unnamed sources, reported that a U.S. official raised the threat of the “Avignon Papacy,” referencing the period from 1309 to 1376, when France’s King Philip IV captured the Pope and subsequent popes resided in Avignon instead of Rome.

         -THE HILL Filip Timotija - 04/09/26 

This reminded me of Joseph Heller's novel Catch 22 where Chaplain Tappman is ordered by Colonel Cathcart to lead group prayers before bombing missions.

 Cathcart was obsessed with getting his name and photograph in The Saturday Evening Post and viewed the prayers as a "feather in his cap" to advance his career. He wanted the prayers to be "light and snappy" and insisted that the chaplain exclude any mention of God, death, or the "Valley of Death".  Chaplain Tappman told Cathcart that prayers made under those strict conditions was nonsense so Colonel Cathcart eventually abandoned the idea as it was proving to be too difficult.
The scene highlighted Colonel Cathcart's narcissistic, self-serving nature and his view of religion as a mere tool for personal gain, rather than a spiritual matter.

It's easy to see the parallels between this scenario and President Trump via Secretary of Defence (War) Hegseth demanding that the Catholic Church takes the side of the Pentagon and the pope and his envoys telling him to fuck off. Trump, like Colonel Cathcart, has a narcissistic, self-serving nature and his view of religion is as a mere tool for personal gain, rather than a spiritual matter.

Watch this space.