Biden Awards Pope Francis Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction
Francis became only the third pope to receive America's highest civilian honor.
By Gary Gately
President Joe Biden has awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, praising the pontiff as “the People’s Pope — a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world.”
It marked the only Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction — a more prestigious version that presidents rarely award — that Biden has bestowed, among a total of 57 during his term.
Francis became only the third pope to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom, which recognizes “especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” Then-President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded the Medal of Freedom posthumously to Pope John XXIII in 1964, and then-President George W. Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction to Pope John Paul II in 2004.
Biden, the nation's second Catholic president, had planned to award the medal to Francis during a visit to the Vatican this weekend, but canceled the trip to focus on the federal response to the wildfires raging in California.
The president informed Francis, the 88-year-old Jesuit pontiff, of the award during a phone call Saturday during which they discussed efforts to foster peace and alleviate suffering across the globe, the White House said.
Biden posted on X (formerly Twitter) an image of the award being presented during a White House ceremony to Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, on Pope Francis’ behalf. In the post, the 82-year-old Biden, who leaves office January 20, wrote: “Pope Francis, your humility and your grace are beyond words, and your love for all is unparalleled.”
The full citation for the Medal of Freedom with Distinction reads: “As a young man, [then-Argentine priest Father] Jorge Bergoglio sought a career in science before faith led him to a life with the Jesuits. For decades, he served the voiceless and vulnerable across Argentina. As Pope Francis, his mission of serving the poor has never ceased. A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children’s questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths. The first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, Pope Francis is unlike any who came before. Above all, he is the People’s Pope – a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world.”
Biden and Francis had also spoken by telephone on December 19 in a conversation that the White House said focused on "efforts to advance peace around the world.” The president thanked Francis “for his continued advocacy to alleviate global suffering, including his work to advance human rights and protect religious freedoms."
The next day, Vatican News, the Holy See’s news portal, repeatedly referred to Francis’ call for Biden to commute the sentences of all 40 U.S. death-row inmates.
Then, on December 23, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row less than a month before the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has vowed to expand the federal death penalty. (See related story.)
Biden’s move came after intense pressure for him to empty federal death row from a broad coalition of more than 350 organizations, scores of them Catholic, as well as from Pope Francis and U.S. bishops.
The 37 men, all convicted of murder, will serve life imprisonment without parole, and their death sentences cannot be reinstated.
But three inmates convicted of mass killings will remain on death row.
Biden last met with Francis while the pope was in Italy in June for the G7 meetings. Francis became the first Pope to address a G7 summit.
During their private meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Biden and Francis discussed the Israel-Hamas war and “emphasized the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and a hostage deal to get the hostages home and address the critical humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” the White House said in a statement. Biden also thanked Francis for underscoring “the humanitarian impacts of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine” and “reaffirmed his deep appreciation for the pope's tireless advocacy for the poor and those suffering from persecution, the effects of climate change and conflict around the world.”
Biden also met with Francis at the Vatican in October 2021. In a wide-ranging meeting, they spoke about the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, poverty, human rights, refugees, migration and the loss of Biden’s adult son Beau, who died of cancer in 2015. The world’s two most famous Catholics also traded jokes about growing old.