Pope Leo votes in US midterms in first known political ballot for any pontiff

US citizen Leo, who has clashed with Donald Trump over several issues, submits his vote by post in Chicago

Pope Leo has voted in the US midterm elections – the first time a sitting pontiff is known to have cast a ballot in any political election at any time in history.

Leo, who has clashed with the US president, Donald Trump, over several issues, submitted his vote by post in Chicago, where he was born, the Vatican said on Friday. Leo became the first American leader of the Catholic church last year after the death of Pope Francis.

The Vatican said Leo “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so”, including in Peru, where he lived for years as a missionary. “The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,” the statement added.

Leo, who before being elected pope was known as Robert Prevost, reportedly made his request for the mail-in ballot on 3 October, registering at an address in New Lenox, Illinois.

That was 10 days before he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung. The pontiff has gradually been resuming activities since being discharged from hospital on 17 October.

The crucial midterm elections are due to be held on 3 November.

Leo and Trump have clashed over the US president’s harsh immigration polices, with the pontiff describing them as “inhuman”.

Earlier this year, Trump lashed out in response to Leo’s criticisms of the US-Israeli war on Iran, calling the pontiff “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy”. The US president also said Leo had only been elected pope because Trump himself was in the White House.

In response to the tirade, Leo said he was “not afraid” of Trump.

In his first key address to the US on the eve of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Leo praised the country’s history of ⁠welcoming migrants, while urging Americans to live up to the ideals put forward in the ⁠declaration, in what was seen a further rebuke to Trump.

In an interview with the US broadcaster in late July, Leo expressed “great love” for his home country and its core principles of freedom, opportunity and welcoming immigrants but qualified that he just “happens to be American”.

Leo will travel to Latin America in November for an 11-day trip covering 10 cities. Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s foreign minister, told reporters at Rome’s foreign press association this week that a papal visit to the US was expected in the “not too distant future”, adding that the outcome of the midterms might influence whether the trip went ahead in 2027 or later.