Holy See cites citizens’ right and duty to join democratic processes
Pope Leo XIV voted by mail in Illinois, the Holy See Press Office said, making him the first pope to cast a ballot in a US election. Nationwide elections are set for 3 November, and early voting has begun in most states.
“The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,” the press office said in a statement.
The Chicago-born pontiff became the first US citizen to hold the Vatican’s highest seat after his selection in May 2025. The press office said his voting record predates the current election.
“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.
According to NBC News, the pope requested his mail-in ballot from the Will County Clerk’s Office on 3 October.
Less than two weeks later, the Vatican announced he had surgery to remove a lower lobe of his right lung after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Last week the Vatican confirmed that the pope, aged 71, will travel as planned to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in early November.
The midterm elections will determine which political party controls Congress and have a significant impact on the final years of Donald Trump’s presidency.
In the final few days before the vote, Republican and Democratic officials alike are sprinting across the country to boost their party’s chances. Polls suggest Democrats are the favourite to gain control of the House of Representatives and are poised to win seats in Republican-leaning areas that overwhelmingly voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Democrats also appear to have a chance to win additional seats in the Senate.
The gloomy outlook for Trump’s Republican Party has seen the president hold several rallies in states where Republican victories are typically all but guaranteed.
Tensions between the pope and the US president escalated in April, after the pope called for peace in the wake of US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The two have also clashed over immigration enforcement and the US-Israel war with Iran.
“I don’t think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump said about the pope afterwards.
“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 followed with his own remarks later, 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.”