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

Q: What is this world story about?

The Chicago-born pontiff, who has a tense relationship with Trump, mailed in a ballot for the midterm elections that will decide control of the US Congress.

Q: Who published this story?

This story was published by BBC World on October 30, 2026 and curated on Africa Front.

Q: What related topics does this story cover?

African Elections, Health & Pandemics, African Technology

October 30, 2026

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

Published8 hours ago

Pope Leo XIV has submitted his mail-in ballot in Illinois, for the midterm elections, becoming the first-ever pope 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 hold the Vatican's highest seat, after his selection in May 2025.

Since then, he has clashed with the Trump administration over various issues, 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 determine which political party controls Congress and have a significant impact on the final years of Donald Trump's presidency.

Elections will be held nationwide on 3 November, but early voting has begun in most states.

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.

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

Tensions escalated between the Pope and the US president in April, after the Pope called for peace in the wake of US-Israeli strikes on 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."

In the final few days before the midterms, Republican and Democratic officials alike are sprinting across the country to boost their party's chances of success.

Polls suggest Democrats are the favourite to gain control of the lower chamber of Congress, called 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 upper chamber of Congress.

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.