Three weeks after Pope Leo XIV became the first pope from the United States, Americans are still debating how his new job will affect his relationship with the U.S.
Even before he was appointed to a position at the Vatican in 2023, Pope Leo spent most of his time away from his home country.
He worked in Peru for much of the 1980s and 1990s and then, after about 15 years spent serving in church leadership roles in Chicago, returned to the country in 2014 to help lead a Catholic diocese there, according to the Vatican News.
During his most recent stint in Peru, Pope Leo obtained Peruvian citizenship, but he didn’t renounce his U.S. citizenship. He continued to engage with American culture and politics, and he voted in the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024 general elections, per ABC News.
Now, some church watchers are wondering if that engagement will end now that Pope Leo is the head of the Catholic Church — and a foreign state.
The Associated Press recently described his situation as “extremely rare” and “legally thorny.”
Is Pope Leo still a U.S. citizen?
The legal thorniness stems from the fact that popes are more than religious leaders. They’re also political leaders, since they serve as head of the Vatican City, as the AP reported.
When a U.S. citizen leads a foreign state, it can raise concerns for the State Department.
“The U.S. State Department says on its website that it may ‘actively review’ the citizenship status of Americans who ‘serve as a foreign head of state, foreign head of government, or foreign minister,’" per the AP.
But experts on citizenship law don’t expect the State Department to take action against Pope Leo by, for example, attempting to revoke his U.S. citizenship.
“The State Department never assumes that you intend to lose your citizenship unless you specifically say so through the renunciation process,” said Peter Spiro, a Temple University law professor, to the AP.
“I think it’s highly unlikely that the U.S. moves to terminate the pope’s citizenship,” he added.
Pope Leo’s connection to U.S.
Pope Leo has not commented on renouncing his U.S. citizenship.
But he has found ways to celebrate his American roots, including by agreeing to appear (virtually) at a celebration that will be held in his honor by the Archdiocese of Chicago at the White Sox stadium on June 14.
“The Archdiocese of Chicago announced Tuesday that the newly installed Pope Leo will deliver a ‘special video message to the young people of the world,’ to be broadcast first from the June 14 event,” per Block Club Chicago.
Pope Leo does not yet have an in-person visit to the U.S. on his calendar.
Vice President JD Vance invited him to visit the White House during his trip to the Vatican last week, as the Deseret News previously reported.