Pope Leo will accept the Liberty Medal in a remote broadcast from Rome
ABC News
Pope Leo XIV will accept the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia on July 3 in a remote broadcast from the Vatican
PHILADELPHIA -- Pope Leo XIV will accept the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia on the eve of July 4 in a remote broadcast from Rome but won’t travel to the U.S. during its 250th birthday celebrations this year.
Leo, the first American pope, will instead spend the Fourth of July on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, the arrival point for many desperate migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa.
He will be honored on Independence Mall on July 3 for “his lifelong work promoting religious liberty and freedom of conscience and expression around the world — ideals enshrined by America’s founders in the First Amendment,” the National Constitution Center said in a press release Monday.
The center awards the Liberty Medal each year to someone “of courage and conviction” who promotes liberty around the world. Past recipients include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the late civil rights leader.
Leo, born Robert F. Prevost, was raised in Chicago and attended Villanova University near Philadelphia, graduating in 1977.
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