Pope Leo Casts a Ballot in Chicago, a First for the Papacy

Pope Leo has voted in the US midterm elections, the first time a sitting pontiff is known to have cast a ballot in any political election at any point in history, according to the Guardian. The Vatican said the pope exercised his right as a US citizen, submitting a mail-in ballot in his native Chicago ahead of next week's midterms, CBS News reported. The Guardian noted that Leo, a US citizen, has clashed with Donald Trump over several issues.

The ballot was cast by post, and the Guardian described it as the first known political ballot for any pontiff. No other item in the wire reported a different account, and neither the Guardian nor CBS said how the vote was squared with the Holy See's long-standing practice of keeping the Church out of partisan contests.

CBS reported the Vatican's framing in procedural terms, saying only that the pope had exercised his right as a citizen. Neither report described which candidates or measures drew his vote, and neither carried anything from the Vatican beyond that framing, which leaves the political reading of the ballot to others.