Pope Leo XIV participates in US midterm elections by mail in historic first

In a historic first, Pope Leo XIV participated in the US midterm elections by voting by mail, becoming the first pope to cast a ballot in a civil election while in office. The Vatican confirmed that the pope exercised his voting right as an American citizen. Pope Leo XIV, 71, was born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost, and is the first American to hold the office of pope after his election in May 2025. The newspaper "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" revealed that the pope requested a mail-in ballot on October 3. US law allows citizens residing abroad to participate in elections by mail. The pope had previously participated in the party primaries and the 2024 presidential election. The election is a race to choose a successor to Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. The election is widely seen as a test of President Donald Trump's performance in his second term, amid disagreements between him and the pope over the war in Iran and immigration policies.