US President Joe Biden spoke with Pope Francis on Saturday and awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, the nation's highest civilian honor, the White House said.
It was the first time during his four years in office that Biden awarded the medal "with distinction," it said.
Biden this week canceled his trip to Rome, where he was due to meet the pope in person, to oversee the federal response to the deadly fires in California.
Pope's controversial comments
The Pope has come under fire recently for a series of controversial comments he made regarding Israel's war in Gaza.
On Thursday, he called the humanitarian situation in Gaza "very serious and shameful" and added that the Vatican "cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians."
His comments on Thursday came after he declared in November that the international community should investigate a potential genocide in Gaza.
During the holiday season, the Vatican featured a manger with a baby Jesus wrapped in a keffiyeh that was designed by two Palestinian artists from Bethlehem.
During its dedication, Pope Francis said that the structure was a reminder of citizens who “suffer the tragedy of war in the Holy Land and other parts of the world."
“Enough with wars, enough of violence!” he added.
Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli slammed the Pope's response, saying that it was a "well-known fact that Jesus was born to a Jewish mother, lived as a Jew, and died as a Jew. There is no other way to understand this decision than as a deliberate adoption of the Palestinian narrative.”
Reuters contributed to this report.