Pope Leo XIV becomes first pontiff to vote in a US election

Pope Leo XIV becomes first pontiff to vote in a US election

Pope Leo XIV has cast his mail-in ballot in Illinois for the midterm elections, making him the first pope ever to vote in a US election.

"The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes," the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.

The Chicago-born pontiff is the first US citizen to occupy the Vatican's highest office, following his selection in May 2025.

Since then, he has come into conflict with the Trump administration on a range of matters, including immigration enforcement and the US-Israel war with Iran.

"Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so," the press office said, including during his years in Peru.

The US midterm elections will decide which political party controls Congress and will have a major effect on the final years of Donald Trump's presidency.

Voting will take place nationwide on 3 November, though early voting has already started in most states.

According to NBC News, the Pope asked for his mail-in ballot from the Will County Clerk's Office on 3 October.

Less than two weeks later, the Vatican said he had undergone surgery to remove a lower lobe of his right lung after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

The Vatican confirmed last week that the Pope, who is 71, will travel as planned to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru in early November.

Tensions between the Pope and the US president intensified in April, after the Pope called for peace following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

"I don't think he's doing a very good job," Trump said about the Pope afterward.

"We don't like a Pope that's going to say that it's OK to have a nuclear weapon," he continued. "I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo."

Pope Leo later responded, saying: "The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace," according to Reuters.

"If someone wants to criticise me for preaching the Gospel... I hope simply to be listened to because of the value of God's words."

In the last few days before the midterms, Republican and Democratic officials alike are racing across the country to improve their party's prospects.

Polls indicate Democrats are favored to take control of the lower chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, and are on track to win seats in Republican-leaning areas that overwhelmingly backed Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Democrats also seem to have a chance of gaining additional seats in the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress.

The bleak outlook for Trump's Republican party has led the president to hold several rallies in states where Republican wins are usually considered virtually certain.