Pope Leo XIV has cast a mail-in ballot in Illinois for the US midterm elections, becoming the first pontiff to vote in an American election, the BBC reports.

“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. The Chicago-born pope is the first US citizen to hold the papacy, after his election in May 2025.

The press office said Leo XIV has voted as a US citizen whenever eligible, including during his years in Peru. According to NBC News, cited by the BBC, he requested his mail-in ballot from the Will County Clerk’s Office on 3 October.

The 3 November midterms will decide control of Congress and shape the final years of Donald Trump’s presidency; early voting has already begun in most states. Tensions between the pope and the Trump administration rose in April after Leo called for peace following US–Israeli strikes on Iran.

Trump said then he did not think the pope was “doing a very good job” and was “not a big fan of Pope Leo.” Leo replied, quoted by Reuters via the BBC, that the Church’s mission is to preach the Gospel and peace.

The Vatican confirmed last week that Leo XIV, 71, will travel as planned in early November to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, after surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung following a lung-cancer diagnosis.

Source: Pope Leo XIV becomes first pontiff to vote in a US election | BBC