In a telephone exchange with Pope Francis on January 11, 2025, U.S. President Joe Biden said he was giving the Pope the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction.
The White House announced in a statement: "This is the first time that President Biden has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction."
This honor is a personal prerogative of the president. "The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors."
The Holy See has not yet responded.
On January 4, Biden, who will hand over power to Donald Trump on January 20, awarded the Presidential Medal to a list of 19 eclectic personalities, ranging from Hillary Clinton to Argentine footballer Lionel Messi to designer Ralph Lauren.
A week later, he exceptionally extended this list to include Pope Francis himself. He had had to postpone and then cancel a meeting scheduled for this weekend in Rome. The American president was detained due to the state funeral of former president Jimmy Carter and the fires in California.
The White House reported that during the telephone exchange, President Biden expressed his “deep regret” to Pope Francis for the cancellation of his visit, and expressed his support of the Argentine Pontiff's promotion of world peace and his attention to the suffering of the most vulnerable.
The People's Pope
A short biography in the White House statement says Pope Francis is unlike any Successor of Peter.
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.
Joe Biden and Pope Francis met at length at the Vatican on October 29, 2021, then more briefly at the G7 summit in Bari on June 15, 2024.
Although he is the second American president to profess the Catholic faith since Kennedy, President Biden has been the subject of much criticism from Church leaders, notably concerning his promotion of abortion and other things at odds with Church teaching.
The award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Pope is an opportunity for him to end his political career, at the age of 82, by asserting a certain closeness to the Pope. For his part, Francis is rather reticent about awards and political honors.
Other popes
Francis is not the first pope to receive this title. On June 5, 2004, Pope John Paul II received this distinction from the hands of U.S. President George W. Bush. It was a way of honoring him for his contribution to the fall of communism, but the gesture caused perplexity in the Vatican, in the context of the Polish pontiff's outspoken opposition to the American offensive in Iraq.
John XXIII, for his part, received it posthumously from President Lyndon Johnson in December 1963, at the same time as the late President John F. Kennedy.
