Pope Leo Says He Is 'Proud to Be an American' After Voting in U.S. Midterms

Aboard the papal plane on Friday, on the way to Montevideo, Pope Leo XIV came to the back of the cabin to greet reporters and was asked about a ballot he had mailed to Chicago. His answer was short: he was "proud to be an American and to exercise the right" to vote. The U.S. midterm elections had just handed control of Congress to the Democrats, a repudiation of President Donald Trump and his policies. Leo declined to comment on the outcome.

Instead, he pointed reporters to a Vatican statement issued Oct. 30, which confirmed that he had submitted a mail-in ballot in his hometown. The statement said Leo had voted whenever he was eligible, as evidence of his belief in civic participation. It also said he believes in the right and the duty of citizens to take part in democratic processes.

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

The vote drew some debate. Leo leads a foreign country, the Holy See, and took a new name when he was elected on May 8, 2025, becoming the 266th successor to St. Peter. U.S. federal law lets American citizens, including those who work for foreign governments, keep their citizenship. But the Church knows him as Leo, while the name on his voter registration is Robert Prevost.

The pope has shown he will move between the two identities when it suits him on delicate matters. Last weekend he hosted basketball players from his alma mater, Villanova University, and its rival Notre Dame. Leo joked that "the pope" doesn't take sides, but that "Prevost" was a Villanovan.

The flight was also his first trip since surgery. The 71-year-old is beginning a 12-day, three-nation tour, with Uruguay first, then Argentina and Peru, only three weeks after having a cancerous tumor removed from his right lung. He revealed on Oct. 11 that he had a nodule on his lung and underwent surgery 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 more treatment and could travel. The nodule was found during a routine exam sometime between his Sept. 25-28 trip to France and the Oct. 11 announcement.

Some people had doubted he would make the journey. "I confess that from the first day, I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward," he said. Asked whether he felt as good as he looked, he quipped, "Maybe better." He credited "Trusting God, good doctors, good surgeons, and overall I think a healthy lifestyle," and said, "Early detection is obviously the best way to go, and so regular checkups are a blessing." He has not yet been able to play tennis. "Not yet, but I will," he said.

Leo said the diagnosis left him with a sense of commitment to stay close to the sick, and to stress that healthcare should be a right for all people. That is a message he is expected to carry through Latin America over the next 12 days.