Key facts
- Pope Leo said he voted by mail in the US midterms because he is proud to be an American.
- Leo, born in Chicago as Robert Prevost, is the first US-born pope, per Reuters.
- Reuters reported that previous Catholic leaders, including Pope Francis, had refrained from voting.
- The Vatican said on October 30 that the pope believed citizens have a right and duty to take part in democratic processes.
- Leo declined to comment when asked about Texas election results, where Democrats won the governorship and a Senate seat.
Pope Leo said on Friday, November 6, that he had cast a ballot by mail in the US midterm elections, describing it as an exercise of civic duty by the first US-born pope. He spoke to a journalist aboard his flight from Rome to Uruguay, where he is opening a 12-day trip across South America.
"I'm proud to be an American and to exercise the right," Leo said, according to Reuters, which reported the remarks from the papal flight.
The report describes the vote as a first for a Catholic leader while pontiff. Leo, born in Chicago as Robert Prevost, said he was likely the first pope to vote in a secular election. Previous Catholic leaders, including his predecessor Pope Francis, who was originally from Argentina, had refrained from voting, according to the report.
Local officials in Will County, south of Chicago, had confirmed the week before that Leo requested a mail-in ballot for the midterms. The Vatican said on October 30 that the pope believed "in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes."
Asked about election results in Texas, where Democrats won the governorship and a US Senate seat as part of a national wave of electoral success, Leo said he had no comment. The pope, who leads the global 1.4-billion-member Church, typically avoids overtly political statements, the report said. It added that Leo has previously drawn criticism from President Donald Trump after sharply criticizing the Iran war.