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.

Pope Francis is scheduled to complete the Christmastime liturgies by baptizing babies in the Sistine Chapel Jan. 12, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Meeting young people receiving care at an oncology-hematology clinic in Poland, Pope Francis told them they are witnesses of hope, and he reminded them Jesus is their friend.

The Catholic Church must create spaces where marginalized individuals — including young people, the elderly and those with disabilities — can engage with one another and find their place in society, Pope Francis said.

Rather than supporting the growth of commercial technology and artificial intelligence, governments should be supporting families and educators in being the main channels of passing on culture and values, Pope Francis told ambassadors and other diplomats accredited to the Holy See.

While society is increasingly focused on pushing the limits of human achievement, it must not lose sight of its duty to protect the dignity of the vulnerable, especially children exploited by the “scourge of child labor,” Pope Francis said.

During the Holy Year 2025, the international community should strive “to overcome the logic of confrontation and embrace instead the logic of encounter,” Pope Francis told ambassadors and other diplomats accredited to the Holy See.

President Joe Biden has canceled his upcoming trip to Italy, including an audience with Pope Francis, in order to “remain focused on directing the full federal response” in the wake of the devastating wildfires raging in California, the White House said.

More than half a million pilgrims crossed the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the first two weeks after Pope Francis opened it.

During the Holy Year 2025, Catholics are called not only to grow in the virtue of hope, but also to share it with others, said U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.