🇺🇸 Trending in USA · 31 October 2026
Who is Pope Leo XIV, the first pope to vote in a US election?
On 30 October 2026 the Vatican confirmed that Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago, had sent in a mail-in ballot for the 3 November US midterm elections. No pope has ever voted in a US general election before.
Who is Pope Leo XIV?
Pope Leo XIV leads the Roman Catholic Church, which has about 1.4 billion members. He was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955. Cardinals elected him pope on 8 May 2025 to succeed Pope Francis, which made him the first American pope in history and the 267th Bishop of Rome.
Quick quiz
1. Pope Leo XIV is the first pope from which religious order?
2. Before he became pope, Robert Prevost served as bishop of Chiclayo. In which country is Chiclayo?
3. Pope Leo XIV sent a mail-in ballot for the 2026 US midterm elections as a registered voter in which state?
Sources
- Leo XIV has become the first pope in history to vote in a US general election (AP via Yahoo)
- Pope Leo requested absentee ballot in Illinois to vote in midterms (NBC News)
- In a papal first, Leo votes in US midterms (National Catholic Reporter)
- Leo XIV (Britannica)
- What to know about Pope Leo XIV and his background (NPR)
