The Pope Voted. Have You?

By Latisha Sky | Prodigal Breaking News | prodigalbreakingnews.com

A first

Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope in history to vote in a U.S. election, casting a mail-in ballot in Tuesday's midterms. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the vote, citing the Will County clerk's office in Illinois, where he is registered at a New Lenox address. He requested his ballot Oct. 3. On Friday, Oct. 30, the Holy See press office confirmed it, saying the pope "has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so."

A secret ballot

How he voted is private, and the Vatican isn't saying. Public records show the Chicago-born pope has voted in every general election since 2000 except 2020 and 2022. In primaries, he requested Democratic ballots in 2008 and 2010 and Republican ballots in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Primary records show which party's ballot a voter took, not which candidates they chose.

The pattern

Last week, bishops who prayed over the president said the White House used the moment as a campaign image. On Sunday, a Detroit church service became the stage for a political endorsement. The pope's vote shows another way faith can meet politics: a citizen's right, exercised privately, with no endorsement. Religious leaders have a vote like everyone else. What they don't need is a seat at the campaign table.

Photo: supplied image.

Notice the pattern. Interrupt it.

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Sources: CBS News (Oct. 30); CNN (Oct. 30); AP via ABC11, US News and WSLS (Oct. 30); Chicago Sun-Times (as cited by CBS); Holy See press office.