In a papal first, Leo votes in the U.S. midterms
Pope Leo XIV has submitted a mail-in ballot in Chicago for the Nov. 3 midterm elections, the Holy See Press Office confirmed Friday. “Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” the statement said, adding that he also voted in Peru during his years there and that he “expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.” The statement followed Chicago Sun-Times reporting that he had requested the ballot from the Will County clerk’s office on Oct. 3; according to the Sun-Times, he voted in the 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2024 general elections. — National Catholic Reporter (Justin McLellan) · Vatican News
Leo on AI: Decisions affecting human life must never be delegated
Meeting participants in a Vatican dialogue on the future of AI organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Future of Life Institute, Leo offered five considerations drawn from his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. The future of AI “is not pre-determined,” he said; machines “are tools, not persons”; and “decisions affecting human life, freedom and the use of force must always remain subject to effective, informed and responsible human oversight.” He encouraged the states meeting in Geneva in November “to take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons” and called for international institutions able to put ethical principles into practice. — Full text (vatican.va) · Vatican News (Kielce Gussie)
Mike Lewis: The bishops who prayed over Trump owe an apology
Writing for Where Peter Is, Mike Lewis says the scandal of the Oct. 22 Oval Office meeting was the image: bishops with hands extended over President Donald Trump, 12 days before the midterms. He notes that Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob and Des Moines Bishop William Joensen have acknowledged their poor judgment, while Denver Archbishop James Golka and Oakland Bishop Michael Barber have defended taking part. “Good intentions do not erase imprudence, but imprudence does not prove bad faith,” he writes, arguing that “an explanation and apology are in order.” — Where Peter Is (Mike Lewis, “Some Lessons Learned, Some Apologies to Make”)
Also today
- Bishop Francesco Cavina, emeritus of Carpi, named special apostolic visitator for the parish of Medjugorje — Holy See Press Office. He succeeds Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, the apostolic nuncio whose resignation from the post Leo accepted; Cavina serves for an indefinite period. Also today, Fr. Martial Bernard, vicar general of Évry-Corbeil-Essonnes, was named bishop of Soissons, France.
- Killed almost 430 years ago, 5 Catholic friars will soon be one step from sainthood — Russ Bynum, AP, via Crux. The Diocese of Savannah expects 10,000 people today for the beatification of the Georgia martyrs, Franciscans killed in 1597; it is only the sixth beatification held in the United States.
- Ten years after earthquakes, pope calls for renewed push to rebuild — Christopher Wells, Vatican News. Meeting delegations from towns in central Italy hit by the 2016–2017 quakes, Leo said rebuilding must happen “as quickly as possible, safely, and transparently.”
- Today’s audiences — Holy See Press Office. Leo received Archbishop Filippo Iannone of the Dicastery for Bishops, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Archbishop Nelson Pérez of Philadelphia, Archbishop Dimas Lara Barbosa of Campo Grande, Brazil, and delegations from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame ahead of Sunday’s basketball game in Rome. · Also: World Mission Day 2027 theme [IT/EN]: “The love of Christ sends us forth.”
- Leo in the Land of Francis — Claudio Iván Remeseira, Where Peter Is. Background on Leo’s Nov. 6–17 journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, whose program the Holy See Press Office will present to reporters on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
- Dicastery for Communication bids farewell to Paolo Ruffini — Salvatore Cernuzio, Vatican News. Ruffini, the first layperson to head a Curia dicastery, ends his term today; Montserrat Alvarado, the first laywoman to lead one, takes over Sunday.
- New safeguards for employees of the Holy See — Vatican News. A rescript approved by Leo gives Curia employees facing serious disciplinary measures more time to respond and the right to a lawyer.
- Ukraine: Papal almoner concludes visit to a wounded peopleArchbishop Luis Marín de San Martín ended his mission in Kyiv and Fastiv, meeting mothers who have lost children in the war.
- Pope Francis on the saints next door — Where Peter Is. Ahead of All Saints, a passage from Gaudete et Exsultate on “the middle class of holiness.”
Compiled from publicly available reporting as of about 7:50 a.m., Oct. 31, 2026 (ET). Quotations are as published by the linked outlets. Headlines from non-English sources are our translations.
This weekend edition was compiled with the help of AI tools and published automatically without editor review. Summaries reflect the reporting of the outlets linked, not the views of Where Peter Is. Please report any errors to the editors.
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