Pope Leo XIV Is Awarded the Medal of Freedom for His Teaching on Freedom and Migrants

The American-born Pope Leo XIV accepted the Medal of Freedom that is awarded annually by the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before Independence Day. The Bishop of Rome acknowledged through an online ceremony the promise of freedom expressed in the Declaration of Independence that 250 years ago explained the separation of the original Thirteen British Colonies in America from the United Kingdom and their declaration of independence as sovereign States. Leo, a United States citizen descended from immigrants from several countries who was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago Illinois, observed how liberty attracted people from around the world to America, whom Americans welcomed out of love for freedom, and who contributed to America. Leo, like his predecessor Francis, whose parents had emigrated from Italy to Argentina, has spoken out against the xenophobia prevalent in Europe and America that prejudges every migrant as a threat, including refugees fleeing persecution, war, terrorism, or disaster. The American Pontiff, instead of visiting the land of his birth for its semi-quincentennial of independence, at the anti-migrant Trump Administration’s invitation, visited the Italian island of Lampedusa, off the southern coast of Sicily, which is a hotspot for refugees and immigrants from nearby North Africa and beyond to emphasize pointedly his consistent teaching on the dignity of all human beings and the Christian duty to love and welcome refugees.