By our reporter 30.10.2026
Pope Leo XIV has sent in his ballot in the November 3 US midterm elections becoming the first Catholic Church Pontiff to ever vote in a political election.
He sent his ballot by mail-in-vote in Chicago where he was born
According to the Vatican Pope Leo, “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so” and believes in “the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.”
A rift earlier this year between US President Donald Trump and the pope sparked global headlines.
Pope Leo and Trump repeatedly clashed over papal criticism of the harsh crackdown on immigration in the United States and of the war on Iran, with Trump calling the pontiff “weak” on crime and “terrible” on foreign policy.
In September, Leo urged the faithful to shake off “all passivity and indifference” toward current events.
“We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved,” he said during the weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square.