Former diplomat Richard Haass has stated that tensions between the U.S. and the Vatican have reached a "23" out of a 1-to-10 scale. This follows a reported threat from the Pentagon to Vatican's former diplomat, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, during a meeting in January. The Pentagon has denied these reports, calling them "grossly false and distorted". Haass suggested that the US should target the Catholic church as its primary rival for the sake of international law. This comes after Pope Leo XIV warned against the increasing use of military deployment across the globe. The Vatican declined to join the Gaza Board of Peace, which will oversee reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.