Pope Leo XIV is, according to the Vatican, the first pope in history to have taken part in a US congressional election. The Chicago-born pontiff cast his vote by postal ballot for the parliamentary elections on November 3. In doing so, he exercises a right that, according to the Vatican, he has always defended.
According to records on which the reports are based, the pope has in the past participated in both Democratic and Republican primaries. The Vatican stated that the head of the Catholic Church has cast his vote "whenever he had the opportunity to do so." In line with this established practice of civic participation, he sent his ballot by mail to Chicago. The Vatican's confirmation makes the vote a rare occurrence, as it had not previously been publicly documented that a pope had made use of his voting rights in the United States.
The vote comes at a time of tense public disputes between Leo XIV and US President Donald Trump. The pope had repeatedly voiced criticism of the war in Iran as well as of the government's migration policies, and Trump responded with public counterattacks. The conflicts have visibly strained the relationship between the head of the Catholic Church and the American administration in recent months.
That a pope exercises his right to vote in the United States is obvious given his origins. Robert Francis Prevost, as Leo XIV was known before his election, comes from Chicago. The Vatican emphasized that, in the pope's understanding, taking part in the democratic process is consistent with the principle of civic participation that he has upheld for years. The election in which the vote was cast is the midterm elections held at the midpoint of the president's term, in which the entire House of Representatives and a portion of the Senate are determined anew.
Whether and to what extent the casting of the vote will trigger political reactions in the United States was not known at the time of reporting. However, the Vatican's publication of the information gives the matter particular attention, as it represents a precedent in the relationship between the papacy and democratic elections in the US.