The story that Lemaitre persuaded the Pope to stop is partly legend. The evidence for a direct intervention is thin, and the Pope’s later speeches simply avoided the topic.

Historians such as Dominique Lambert have shown that Lemaitre did express his discomfort through Church channels, and that the Pope’s subsequent silence is consistent with having heard it, but a dramatic personal confrontation is not documented. Lemaitre expressed his concern is the accurate phrasing; worked to persuade the Pope claims more than the record supports. The substance, that the scientist who proposed the beginning did not want it used as a proof of God, is well attested in his own words.