Biden bestows Pope Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom via a phone call.

On Saturday, Pope Francis was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President Joe Biden.

Biden canceled his trip to Rome to present a medal to the pope in person, opting instead to monitor the wildfires in California.

During a phone call, Biden presented the award to the pope and they discussed ways to promote peace and ease global suffering.

"Unlike any predecessor, Pope Francis is the People's Pope, a beacon of faith, hope, and love shining globally."

During his four years in office, Biden had never awarded the medal "with distinction" before.

Biden, 82, will depart from the presidency on January 20th. The longtime Catholic is also a recipient of the award with distinction, which he received when he was vice president under President Barack Obama in a surprise ceremony eight years ago. This was the only time during Obama's two terms that he awarded this version of the medal, according to the Associated Press.

According to Massimo Faggioli, an Italian academic and professor at Villanova University, both Biden and Francis have been weakened by global events.

""This moment is truly tragic for both men in different ways, as what could go wrong did go wrong in these few years," he stated."

Since assuming the papacy in 2013, Francis, 88, has advocated for the Church to embrace the modern world. However, his support of abortion and other positions that conflict with Church teachings has garnered criticism from some U.S. Catholics.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.