The Islamic State’s threats against Pope Francis are not just media propaganda but quite “real,” the chief of the Vatican police force said in a rare interview published on March 1.

“The threat exists,” Domenico Giani, the head of the Vatican’s security and police force, said in an interview with Italian state publication Polizia Moderna. “This is what has emerged from my conversations with Italian and foreign colleagues.”

Last month, the Islamic State released a graphic video made expressly for Italy and its Christians. The five-minute video, titled “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross,” depicts Islamic State jihadists beheading 21 Coptic Christians on the coast of Libya. A masked jihadist issues a threat to Italy’s capital, emphasizing how geographically close the site of the slaughter was to the European city: “[T]oday, we are on the south of Rome, on the land of Islam, Libya …. And we will conquer Rome, by Allah’s permission, the promise of our prophet, peace be upon him.”

Giani said threats against the Vatican and the pope extend beyond the Islamic State to also include the risk of lone-wolf attacks. Such lone wolves are “more dangerous because they are unpredictable,” he added.

Pope Francis has been made aware of the risks the Islamic State presents. But Giani says Francis “is not compromising the style of his pontificate, based on closeness to the people, that is, on personal contact with the greatest number of people possible.”

Giani added that his force knew of no plans for a specific attack at the time of the interview.

This is not the first time the Islamic State has threatened Rome, but it is the first time the Vatican has let it be known that it takes the threats seriously.

Political support for Italian military involvement is growing. Last month, the president of Italy’s Senate Defense Commission warned that if diplomatic efforts fail, Italy must be ready to engage in military intervention to halt the Islamic State’s advance.

The Trumpet has long said that radical Islam will continue to antagonize and push against European nations until a “last crusade” crushes radical Islam by violent force. To understand more about this looming conflict, read Trumpet columnist Brad Macdonald’s newest article, “Je Suis Charles the Hammer.”