President Joe Biden awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, the nation’s highest civilian honor, the White House said Jan. 11.
Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, spoke with the pontiff to name him a recipient of the award, the White House said. It marked the only time in his presidency Biden bestowed that award “with distinction,” the announcement added.
On Jan. 8 Biden canceled a trip to Italy that had been scheduled for Jan. 9-12. It would have included an audience with Pope Francis and would have been his final foreign trip as president. The cancellation came in the wake of the devastating wildfires raging in California.
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