(ZENIT News / Buenos Aires, 03.22.2025).- A distinguished honor with deep political undercurrents has found its way to Argentina. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to Pope Francis by former U.S. President Joe Biden in the final days of his administration, has now been enshrined in Buenos Aires, the Pope’s home city. It was officially received with a special Mass at the Buenos Aires Cathedral on March 13—marking the 12th anniversary of the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the leader of the Catholic Church.
While Biden cited humanitarian reasons for the award, praising Francis’ advocacy for global human rights and religious freedom, the timing of the recognition—coming just weeks after Donald Trump’s return to the White House and amid growing tensions between the Pope and Argentine President Javier Milei—adds layers of political significance.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian distinction in the United States, rarely bestowed upon religious figures. Before Pope Francis, only one pontiff had received it: John Paul II, who was honored by President George W. Bush in 2004 for his role in promoting religious freedom and helping to end communism in Eastern Europe.
Biden’s choice to award the medal to Francis was shaped not only by their shared concerns—such as social justice and environmental protection—but also by their contrasts with Trump. In a phone call on December 20, 2024, the Pope had urged Biden to take action on the death penalty. Days later, the outgoing president commuted the sentences of 37 federal inmates from death to life imprisonment. Their scheduled in-person meeting at the Vatican on January 10, 2025, was ultimately canceled due to California wildfires, but Biden announced the honor in a follow-up call the next day. The medal was handed over to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, before making its way to Argentina.
The decision to display the medal in Argentina is itself an unmistakable message. Pope Francis, who has clashed with Milei over economic policies and social welfare, has long expressed concerns about what he describes as the rise of “neoliberal extremism” in certain governments. The exhibit of the award in Buenos Aires can be read as a quiet yet powerful statement—one that juxtaposes the Pope’s vision with that of Argentina’s libertarian president, who has openly criticized and even insulted Francis in the past.
The ceremony at the cathedral came just a day after Argentine police violently repressed a mass protest by retirees demanding better pensions. Among the wounded was a Catholic priest, Father Francisco Olvera, who was reportedly beaten and threatened by law enforcement. The proximity of these events only added to the moment’s significance.
For some observers, Biden’s decision to honor the Pope in the twilight of his presidency was more than a farewell gesture—it was a political statement.
“Biden was making a clear point,” said Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. “By awarding the medal at the very end of his administration, he was signaling resistance to the rightward shift in global politics and reaffirming his alignment with Francis’ progressive moral vision.”
Unlike Bush’s recognition of John Paul II, which was rooted in shared conservative values, Biden’s honor emphasized mutual commitments to climate action, economic justice, and inclusivity—areas where both men diverge sharply from Trump.
Carlos Custer, a former Argentine ambassador to the Vatican, sees the medal’s placement in Buenos Aires as another piece in the complex puzzle of Francis’ relationship with Milei. While the Pope has consistently championed economic policies aimed at helping the poor, Milei’s administration is focused on aggressively reducing government spending and social welfare. Their ideological gap has led to a rocky relationship, with the Argentine president once referring to Francis as the “representative of evil on Earth” before later attempting to soften his stance.
For Fortunato Mallimaci, a religion expert at the University of Buenos Aires, the decision to showcase the medal in Argentina carries undeniable political weight. “This could be seen as a way for the Church to express its discontent with Milei’s policies,” he said. However, he also noted that Argentina’s deep economic crisis has shifted the public’s focus away from symbolic gestures.
“This is significant, but people are more worried about their daily struggles right now,” Mallimaci added. “For this to become a political tool, someone in the opposition would have to seize on it and make it a bigger issue. That hasn’t happened yet.”
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