According to reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times, one Robert Francis Prevost obtained a mail-in ballot for the November elections in the state of Illinois. Pope Leo has other duties on his plate, but it appears he still believes in making time for his civic duties.
■ It’s possible that this is the first time a sitting head of state of a foreign country has been eligible to vote in an American election, though it’s worth noting that Winston Churchill’s mother was American and Boris Johnson was a dual US/UK citizen until he became a senior minister in the British government (Prime Ministers being heads of government rather than state, regardless).
■ About two thirds of eligible adults have been showing up to vote in recent Presidential elections; about 50% vote in the midterms. The greatest get-out-the-vote ad that no one could possibly make would feature Pope Leo saying, “I was busy leading a billion-person church and fighting lung cancer, but I still found time to vote. What’s your excuse?”
■ The more serious take-away, though, is that there is no conflict between examining moral questions deeply and making imperfect choices in a civic environment. It’s doubtful that the Pope’s ballot will be returned with nothing but write-in names. If we wait for perfection (in candidates, ballot initiatives, or any other subject of democratic decision-making. The thing that matters is participation, and using that participation to apply one’s own best available judgment to the choices we need to make. If the Pope himself can live with that kind of intellectual tension, so can the rest of us.