
Photo: x.com/POTUS
Biden was unable to present the medal in person
The head of the Catholic Church became the only person to whom Biden presented the Medal of Freedom with distinction during his term.
US President Joe Biden awarded Pope Francis the highest civilian award in the US - the Medal of Freedom with Distinction. This was reported by The Hill on Saturday, January 11.
Biden, who is only the second Catholic president in US history, is said to have called Pope Francis on Saturday to inform him of the award. The White House released a photo of Biden in the Oval Office next to the medal.
The current US president had planned to visit Rome this weekend to present the award in person, but was forced to cancel the trip due to the massive wildfires in Los Angeles.
The Pope became the only person to whom Biden presented the Medal of Freedom with distinction during his presidency. The visit to Italy also included a meeting with Prime Minister Georgia Maloney as part of Biden's last foreign trip as president.
In a statement from the White House, Pope Francis was called "the Pope of the people - a light of faith, hope and love that shines brightly around the world."
Biden has a close relationship with Pope Francis, who has expressed support for the president despite differences in the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion. The last meeting took place in June, when Biden was in Italy for the G7 summit.
In October 2021, Biden met with Pope Francis amid debate among conservative Catholic bishops over whether to allow him to receive communion because of his stance on abortion rights. Then Biden said that the Pope supported him and told him to continue receiving communion.
In November of that year, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops passed a document on communion without mentioning whether Biden or other politicians should be disqualified from receiving the sacrament because of their views on abortion, effectively ending the debate on the issue.
In his Christmas message, Pope Francis called for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war.