Pope Leo XIV Votes by Absentee Ballot in Chicago, Illinois, Becoming First Pope to Vote in a US Election

Pope Leo XIV has voted in the 2026 midterm elections by absentee ballot, the Holy See Press Office said in a statement on Friday. The office confirmed that Leo XIV became the first pontiff in Catholic Church history to vote in an American election.

The statement said that “Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” and that “in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago.” It added that during his years of residence in Peru he also voted whenever he was eligible. “The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,” the statement said.

Born Robert Prevost in Chicago, the pontiff was elected pope last year shortly after the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff. Before becoming a cardinal and later pope, the 71-year-old Prevost served as an American missionary in Peru, and he also holds Peruvian citizenship.

Leo XIV has had public differences with President Donald Trump, who has objected to the pontiff’s opposition to the Iran war. In a Truth Social post from April, Trump said the pope was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and then said he preferred the pontiff’s brother Louis, a staunch Trump supporter.

Leo XIV responded, “I have no fear of either the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel.” In an interview with NBC News, he said, “We’re not politicians. We’re not looking to make foreign policy, as he calls it, with the same perspective that he might understand it,” and added, “I do not look at my role as being political. I don’t want to get into a debate with him.” He said speaking the Gospel plainly is what he believes he and the Church are called to do, a call to truth spoken without a personal quarrel (Ephesians 4:15).

Earlier this month, the Holy See announced that Leo XIV had undergone minimally invasive surgery on his right lung and had been diagnosed with lung cancer. “The intraoperative histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected by the pre-operative tests,” the press office said. It said the Holy Father was in the operating theatre for approximately three hours, and that the operation itself lasted about ninety minutes. “The operation was successful and there were no complications.”

“Following the operation, the Pope woke up normally and, after a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the tenth floor,” the statement said.

Source: Read the original report