Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church’s first US-born pontiff, has voted in the United States midterm elections, submitting his mail-in ballot in Chicago, the Vatican said on Friday.

It is the first known time a pope has voted in a political election.

The head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who has clashed with US President Donald Trump, believes in “the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,” the Vatican said in a statement.

The Chicago-born pontiff “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” the Vatican said.

“The Holy See Press Office confirms that in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago,” it added.

A rift earlier this year between US President Donald Trump and the pope sparked global headlines.

Leo and Trump repeatedly clashed over papal criticism of the harsh crackdown on immigration in the United States and of the war on Iran, with Trump calling the pontiff “weak” on crime and “terrible” on foreign policy.

The pope said he was “not afraid” of Trump.

The crucial US midterm elections are scheduled to be held on November 3.

Robert Francis Prevost, as he was known before his election to the papacy, spent nearly two decades as a missionary, then bishop, in Peru and has both US and Peruvian citizenship.

“The Holy Father has also confirmed that, during his years of residence in Peru he exercised his right to vote whenever he was eligible to do so,” the Vatican said.