Pope Leo Says He Is 'Proud to Be an American' After Casting Midterm Ballot from Abroad

On Friday, aboard the papal plane bound for Montevideo, Uruguay, Pope Leo XIV walked to the back of the cabin to greet the journalists traveling with him. Among the first things he said was that he was "proud to be an American and to exercise the right" to vote in the U.S. midterm elections, which had just handed control of Congress to the Democrats in a rebuke of President Donald Trump and his policies.

He would not say what he made of the result. When reporters pressed, Leo pointed them to a Vatican statement issued on Oct. 30, which confirmed that he had cast a mail-in ballot in his hometown of Chicago. That statement said he had voted "whenever he was eligible to do so," and described the act as an expression of his belief in the right and duty of citizens to take part in democratic processes.

The pope also holds Peruvian citizenship, and the Vatican noted he had voted there while he lived in that country. Asked Friday about Peru's recent election, Leo said he had been unable to take part because absentee ballots "aren't possible" there. "But I would have done it. It's a good thing," he said.

His Chicago ballot stirred some debate, because he is the head of a foreign state, the Holy See, and took a new name, Leo XIV, when he was elected the 266th successor to St. Peter on May 8, 2025. U.S. federal law lets American citizens keep their citizenship even while working for foreign governments. In the eyes of the Catholic Church, though, he is Leo; the name on his voter registration is Robert Prevost.

Leo has shown a willingness to move between those identities when a delicate question calls for it. Last weekend he hosted basketball players from Villanova University, his alma mater, and from rival Notre Dame. He joked that "the pope" does not take sides, but that "Prevost" was a Villanovan.

The flight marks the start of a three-nation, 12-day tour that also includes Argentina and Peru. It is his first trip since surgery, coming just three weeks after the 71-year-old pope had a cancerous tumor removed from his right lung. He announced on Oct. 11 that a nodule had been found on his lung and was operated on two days later. Doctors confirmed adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer, and removed the lower lobe of the lung. After further tests, they said he needed no additional treatment and could travel. The nodule was found in a routine exam sometime between his Sept. 25-28 trip to France and the Oct. 11 announcement.

"I'm very happy to be here myself," Leo told the reporters. Asked whether he felt as good as he looked, he answered, "Maybe better." He acknowledged that some had doubted he would make the journey, but said he never did: "I confess that from the first day, I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward." He added that, thanks to the Lord and "wonderful medical assistance," he was in fairly good shape. He had not yet been able to play tennis. "Not yet, but I will," he said.

Leo credited his recovery to trusting God, good doctors and surgeons, and a healthy lifestyle, and said early detection made regular checkups "a blessing." His illness, he said, has deepened his wish to stay close to the sick and to stress that health care should be a right for all people. That message is expected to feature during the tour through Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.