{"id":322651,"date":"2026-11-06T21:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T21:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/322651\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T21:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T21:14:07","slug":"pope-proud-to-be-an-american-after-us-elections-and-credits-god-and-doctors-with-cancer-rebound-ap-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/322651\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope \u2018proud to be an American\u2019 after US elections, and credits God and doctors with cancer rebound | Ap-world"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV<\/a> said Friday that he was \u201cproud to be an American and to exercise the right\u201d to vote in U.S. midterm elections<\/a> that gave control of Congress to the Democrats in a repudiation of U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> and his policies.<\/p>\n

Meeting with journalists en route to Latin America<\/a>, Leo declined to comment on the outcome of the vote and pointed to a statement that the Vatican issued last week in confirming he had submitted a mail-in ballot in his hometown of Chicago.<\/p>\n

In the Oct. 30 statement, the Vatican said that Leo had voted \u201cwhenever he was eligible to do so\u201d as evidence of his belief in civic participation. The statement also said that Leo believes \u201cin the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It noted that the pope, who also has Peruvian citizenship, had exercised his right to vote while he lived in Peru. Leo said Friday that he hadn\u2019t been able to vote in Peru\u2019s recent election since absentee ballots \u201caren\u2019t possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I would have done it. It\u2019s a good thing,\u201d he said. To another reporter, who asked him about the significance of his Chicago absentee ballot, Leo pointed to the Vatican statement but said: \u201cI\u2019m proud to be an American and to exercise the right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leo\u2019s vote sparked some debate, given Leo is head of a foreign country \u2014 the Holy See \u2014 and assumed a new persona<\/a> \u2014 Pope Leo XIV, the 266th successor to St. Peter \u2014 after his election as pope on May 8, 2025.<\/p>\n

U.S. federal law allows American citizens, even those who work for foreign governments, to retain their citizenship. But as far as the Catholic Church is concerned, he is Leo, not Robert Prevost, the name on his voter registration.<\/p>\n

The pope, however, likes to shape-shift a bit when it suits him on particularly delicate matters. He did so last weekend, in hosting basketball players from his alma mater Villanova University and rival Notre Dame. Leo joked that \u201cthe pope\u201d doesn\u2019t take sides, but that \u201cPrevost\u201d was a Villanovan.<\/p>\n

Leo’s first trip after surgery<\/p>\n

Leo made the comments en route to Montevideo, Uruguay, the first stop of a three-nation, 12-day tour that is coming just three weeks after the 71-year-old pope underwent surgery<\/a> to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy to be here myself,\u201d Leo told reporters when he came to the back of the plane to greet them. Asked if he felt as good as he looked, he quipped: \u201cMaybe better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leo acknowledged that some people had doubted he would be able to make the trip, which will also take him to Argentina and Peru, after he revealed to the world on Oct. 11 that he had a nodule on his lung and then underwent the surgery two days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI confess that from the first day, I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPraise the Lord and thanks to wonderful medical assistance, I\u2019m here today, I think, in fairly good shape.\u201d He acknowledged though that he hadn\u2019t had a chance to play tennis.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet, but I will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Doctors confirmed that Leo had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. They removed the lower lobe of his right lung and, after further tests, said that he required no further treatment and could make the trip.<\/p>\n

The nodule was detected during a routine exam, sometime between Leo\u2019s Sept. 25-28 trip to France and the Oct. 11 announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly detection is obviously the best way to go, and so regular checkups are a blessing,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n

He credited his rebound to \u201cTrusting God, good doctors, good surgeons, and overall I think a healthy lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leo said that his takeaway from his diagnosis was that he feels a sense of commitment \u201cof wanting to continue to be close to those who are sick,\u201d but to also highlight the need for healthcare to be a right for all people, a message he’s expected to emphasize during his trip.<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n

\nCopyright 2026 Maranatha Broadcasting Co., Inc.. All Rights Reserved.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV said Friday that he was \u201cproud to be an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,9328,902,38,298,1057,14288,130805,12441,12242,1824,10224,301],"class_list":["post-322651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-cancer","tag-elections","tag-general-news","tag-government-policy","tag-health","tag-midterm-elections","tag-pope-us-midterm-elections-cancer","tag-religion","tag-surgery","tag-voting","tag-washington-news","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}