Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope in history to vote in a US general election
Pope Leo XIV cast a mail-in ballot in Chicago ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, becoming the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election. The Vatican said Leo has voted whenever eligible and affirmed his belief that citizens have a right and duty to participate in democratic processes. Election records show Robert Prevost voted in several Illinois primary and general elections before becoming pope; they do not reveal which candidates he supported.
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Pope Leo XIV has cast a mail-in ballot in Chicago for the November 2026 U.S. midterm elections, making him the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election. The Vatican said he has voted when eligible as a U.S. citizen and affirmed citizens’ right and duty to participate in democratic processes.
The Vatican confirmed that Leo, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, had voted. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that he was registered at a New Lenox address and requested a mail-in ballot on October 3; it was not clear how he returned it.
The Holy See said Leo had also voted while living in Peru whenever eligible. It described his participation as an expression of his belief in the “right and the duty” of citizens to take part in democratic processes.
Illinois records show Prevost voted in five primary elections from 2000 onward, requesting Democratic ballots in 2008 and 2010 and Republican ballots in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Those records do not reveal which candidates he supported; voters in Illinois primaries must select a party ballot, while general-election voters do not have to declare a party preference.
The records also show that he submitted ballots in every U.S. general election since 2000 except those in 2020 and 2022.
Catholic teaching on civic participation and democratic responsibility
Catholic teaching regards civic participation as both a right and a moral responsibility. Democracy gives citizens important ways to shape public life, but Catholic support for participation is not an endorsement of every policy or majority decision: political choices must respect the dignity of every person and serve the common good. Catholics are therefore called to take part with a well-formed conscience, contribute to society beyond election day, and resist treating party loyalty as more important than moral truth.
The “common good” means the social conditions that help people and communities live with dignity and flourish. It is not simply whatever benefits the largest group, a party, or an individual voter. Catholic teaching calls citizens to consider the good of society as a whole, including the rights and needs of people who are poor, vulnerable, or politically marginalized. The Church also identifies public order and peace, freedom and equality, respect for human life and the environment, justice, and solidarity as goods that public life should protect.
Participation is broader than voting. It includes taking an informed interest in public affairs, contributing to public discussion, communicating with elected officials, serving in civic organizations, and—in appropriate circumstances—working in political parties or standing for office. The Church’s social teaching describes participation as a pillar of democratic life: people should be informed, heard, and involved in public decisions at different levels.
The Second Vatican Council expresses the responsibility directly:
All citizens, therefore, should be mindful of the right and also the duty to use their free vote to further the common good.
This duty does not mean every person must engage in the same way or to the same extent. People’s responsibilities and opportunities differ. But the Catholic tradition warns against simply abandoning public life: the faithful are called to bring Christian moral conviction into social, economic, legislative, administrative, and cultural affairs.
The Church values democratic participation because it allows citizens to share in directing public affairs. But democracy is not morally self-sufficient. A vote, law, or majority decision does not become just merely because it was reached through a democratic process. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith teaches that democracy succeeds only when grounded in a sound understanding of the human person; respect for the rights of persons is necessary for genuine participation.
This means political responsibility includes protecting the conditions that make participation meaningful: respect for rights, fair opportunities to take part, and room for families, associations, and other social groups to carry out legitimate work. The Council cautions both public authorities against stifling such groups and citizens against placing excessive power in the hands of government.
Catholic engagement also takes place with people who do not share the faith. The aim is not to compel everyone to adopt Catholic belief, but to work with others for the common good. The Church’s guidance recognizes that citizens may cooperate in political solutions and legislative choices they believe will benefit the common good, while the lay faithful bring their convictions into public life and respect the proper autonomy of civil society.
A Catholic voter should seek to form conscience rather than rely solely on party identity, slogans, or personal advantage. In Catholic usage, conscience is not simply a feeling or an automatic approval of whatever one already prefers; responsible political judgment requires moral reflection. The US bishops urge Catholics to be guided more by moral convictions than attachment to a party or interest group, and to bring their principles into their political choices.
This does not mean that Catholic teaching supplies a ready-made answer to every question of public policy. Citizens may disagree in good faith about practical means, priorities, or likely consequences. The CDF’s guidance recognizes citizens’ role in assessing political solutions and legislative choices in light of their judgment about the common good. But disagreement about means does not make every moral position equally sound: democratic participation remains accountable to respect for the human person and to moral principles.
Accordingly, voting responsibly involves more than asking which candidate or platform best serves one’s own interests. It means considering the effects of political choices on human dignity, rights, peace, justice, and the common good. The available sources establish those broad criteria; they do not provide a ranking of candidates or a complete assessment of any particular election.
Civic responsibility also includes ordinary duties. The Ukrainian Catholic catechism names participation in elections, paying taxes, obeying the law, solidarity with others, mutual respect, and—in the circumstances it describes—defending one’s country against aggressors. It adds that Christians who seek or hold public office must not compromise their faith.
Public service is a genuine vocation, not something inherently opposed to Christian life. The Church honors those who take on the burdens of governing for the good of others. Catholic teaching also assigns a particular responsibility to lay people: the direct work of shaping a just social and political order belongs especially to them, while Church leaders teach moral principles and help form consciences rather than replacing the state or assuming its political tasks.
That distinction matters. The Church contributes moral teaching and public witness; lay Catholics apply that formation in the varied circumstances of civic and political life. The US bishops describe these roles as complementary: Church leaders teach and guide on moral dimensions, while the faithful carry out their responsibilities in public life.
In practice, democratic responsibility means staying engaged, learning about public questions, weighing political choices against moral principles, and treating fellow citizens with respect—even amid sharp disagreement. It also means serving the common good through forms of participation available to you, whether or not you hold office or can vote. The Church’s teaching presents civic life not as a distraction from faith, but as one setting in which concern for one’s neighbors and responsibility for society can be put into practice.