Pope Leo XIV has recently intensified his condemnation of war and the rhetoric of might is right. It’s now drawn an angry response from the American President so what's next, asks Herald columnist Kevin McKenna

A psychological war has erupted between the Vatican and the White House over Donald Trump’s conduct in his conflict with Iran. Some of this may yet have serious consequences about freedom of conscience and belief in the US and the role of the Catholic Church in global affairs.

As this involves President Trump’s clown-show presidency, it’s also given us some moments of comedy gold. One of these was reported to have occurred earlier this year when the Vatican’s ambassador to Washington was summoned to the White House over concerns about Pope Leo’s increasingly admonitory remarks about the way the US is waging war in the Gulf.

Here, I must crave your indulgence for a few moments while I guide you through some esoteric nuances of medieval church history. It was reported that a senior White House official had (metaphorically) grabbed the Holy See’s diplomat by the lapels and threatened him with the dreaded ‘Avignon Papacy’.

This colourful period in papal history occurred between 1309 and 1376 when seven popes conducted their ministry from French Avignon following a dispute between the Vatican and King Philip of France. Church historians commonly refer to this period as ‘The Avignonese Captivity’. The implications of this would have been alarmingly clear to the Vatican’s startled man in Washington. “Tell your Commie-loving boss to zip it, or we’ll take over his red papacy.”

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