Source : Perth Now news
Pope Leo XIV has cast his vote in the US midterm elections as the first pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church from the United States.
The 71-year-old voted from more than 7500km away, casting his ballot by post in advance, the Vatican confirmed on Friday.
It remains unclear for whom the US-born Pope voted ahead of the elections on Tuesday.
Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, was born in Chicago in the state of Illinois.
According to US media reports, he applied for a Chicago postal vote in early October.
Media reports indicated Prevost voted in the US general elections of 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2024 as well as in the Republican primaries of 2012, 2014 and 2016 and in the Democratic primaries of 2008 and 2010.
Through his time as a bishop in Peru, he also holds Peruvian citizenship.
He is also head of state of the Vatican.
The Catholic papal state in the middle of Rome, with fewer than 1000 residents and an area of not even half a square kilometre, is the smallest country in the world.
A Vatican spokesman said the Pope had always exercised his right to vote as a US citizen whenever he was entitled to, already during his many years as a missionary and bishop in Peru, and so also now.
An official statement added: “The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.”
In Tuesday’s congressional elections, all seats in the House of Representatives and about one third of the Senate will be contested.
US President Donald Trump’s Republicans are seeking to defend their narrow majorities in both chambers against a strong challenge from the Democrats.
The Pope’s vote comes in a year in which his differences with Trump regarding issues such as immigration policies and the war with Iran have been evident.
Leo has openly criticised the military offensive initiated by the US and Israel against Iran in February while Trump has gone so far as to say that the Pope puts “many Catholics and many people in danger” because he believes that it is “fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon”.
with EFE and AP
