U.S. and Vatican officials have sought to downplay accounts of a strained relationship, but there have been tensions between the Trump administration and the Catholic Church.

Vance said he wanted to speak to all involved, after Pentagon officials reportedly lectured the Vatican's US ambassador.

On Friday, the Vatican formally debunked a viral news report alleging that U.S. officials summoned a Vatican diplomat to the Pentagon to lecture him on the nation’s military might, threatening the Holy See to step in line.

The increase in faith-fueled militaristic rhetoric is pitting the president against a growing list of faith leaders, ranging from local clergy to the pope.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre was told American-born Pope Leo XIV had 'better take' the U.S. side in military matters, a news report stated.

Pierre, a Vatican diplomat, met with Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby at the Pentagon in January. Earlier this week, The Free Press reported that U.S. officials used the meeting to criticize a speech Pope Leo XIV gave earlier that month, and were interpreting his remarks as attacking President Donald Trump's policies.

The Vatican denied reports that a Pentagon official gave the Holy See's envoy to the US a "bitter lecture" after comments by Pope Leo seen as critical of Trump.