First American Pope Champions Founding Principles In 250th Anniversary Speech

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On the eve of America’s 250th birthday, Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV received the National Constitution Center’s 2026 Liberty Medal — and used the moment to call the nation back to its founding ideals.

The award honors the supreme pontiff “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 to the U.S. Constitution,” according to the National Constitution Center.

Speaking from the Vatican in a 10-minute acceptance speech Friday, Leo opened by identifying as “a son of this great country” and invoking the Declaration of Independence.

“I would just like to recall the words signed by the founding fathers of the nation 250 years ago in Philadelphia, in the Declaration of Independence, when they said that, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident,’ that all men have received fundamental rights from our Creator. And they include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The Holy Father went on to pray that those values “continue to inspire all of us, in the United States and throughout the world.”

The Liberty Medal — awarded annually to “men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty for people around the globe” — had been presented to Leo during a private April 30 ceremony at the Vatican. Friday’s public event in Philadelphia was moved indoors to the National Constitution Center due to extreme heat.

Previous recipients include Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy, and imprisoned Catholic pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.

The pope praised America’s founding — and challenged the nation to live up to it.

“As every American knows, however, the path to building a society that would embody those high ideals of liberty and justice for all was not always easy and, in many respects, is still a work in progress,” Leo said. “Indeed, the effort to realize this vision is one that must be taken up anew in each generation and in the face of ever new challenges.”

The first American pope then turned to the first right named in the Declaration: life.

“No one who is deprived of life can enjoy liberty or pursue happiness,” Leo observed. “A country’s vitality is deeply tied to the value it affords to human life in every form and condition, acknowledging the dignity endowed upon every human person by virtue of their very existence.”

He reaffirmed the need for laws which “recognize and safeguard this gift from the moment of conception to natural death.”

“In this regard, the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to support, protect and cherish the lives of all, especially the most vulnerable and those whose worth is questioned,” the Holy Father added.

On liberty, Leo said authentic freedom is “founded upon the human person’s capacity to know the truth and adhere to what is good, even at great cost — a sacrifice well known to many who have labored to shape this country.”

The pope praised America’s tradition of religious liberty for facilitating “interfaith dialogue and interreligious cooperation in promoting the public good.”

He characterized the U.S. as a nation “united not by goals bound to momentary endeavors, but by ideals that do not fade with the passing of time.”

The award follows perceived tension between the Vatican and the Trump administration.

Trump lambasted Leo as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” during an April 12 tirade on Truth Social, following perceived opposition to the president’s approach to denying Iran a nuclear weapon.

Leo responded the following day, appearing to dismiss media narratives of a rift between the two Americans.

“The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone, and the message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,'” the pope said. “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do.”

The pope has since continued dialogue with the Trump administration, warmly welcoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the Vatican for a May 7 meeting.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a June 25 letter from the Holy Father to the American people echoing the celebratory sentiments of his Liberty Medal remarks.

“Congratulations on this extraordinary national anniversary,” the pope’s letter ends. “May the spirit of 1776 continue to inspire hope and unity as the United States of America moves into the future.”

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