The election of Pope Leo XIV as the first chief of American origin of the Catholic Church raised it to the extremely rare and legally thorny position, to be an American citizen who is now also a foreign head of state.
Born in Chicago as Robert Prevost in 1955, the new Pope of the last decade has held dual citizenship in the United States and Peru, where he spent time as a missionary and bishop.
As a pope, Leo is the head of the Holy See, the Director of the Catholic Church and the City of the Vatican, an independent state.
Can the Pope remain an American citizen while leading a foreign government? Here are things to know about Leo’s citizenship.
Is the Vatican considered a sovereign nation?
In addition to being the spiritual leader of what the Church says, it is about 1.4 billion Catholics in the world, Leo is also the head of what is recognized as the smallest nation in the world.
The city of Vatican only covers 0.17 square miles (0.44 square kilometers) and has a population of a few hundred people. He became an independent state in 1929 under a treaty between Italy and the Holy See.
Could Leo be stripped of his American citizenship?
Americans working for foreign governments are not automatically at risk of perfeiting their American citizenship.
But the American State Department says On his website That he can “actively examine” the status of citizenship of the Americans who “serve as a foreign head of state, head of the foreign government or Minister of Foreign Affairs”.
“Such cases raise complex issues of international law, including questions related to the immunity of the American jurisdiction that the person who served may be offered,” said policy.
The State Department refused to comment on the status of the Pope. A spokesperson said the ministry did not discuss the citizenship of individuals.
The fundamental question is whether foreign leaders should hold American citizenship when they also enjoy large immunity from American laws, said Peter Spiro, professor of law at the University of the Temple and expert in citizenship law. Such immunity comes up against the constitutional principle that no American citizen should be above the law.
However, the United States Supreme Court A 1980 decision Judged that the Americans cannot be stripped of their citizenship unless they intentionally renounce it.
“The State Department never assumes that you intend to lose your citizenship unless you specifically say by the renunciation process,” said Spiro.
He said it would be difficult to argue that Leo, becoming Pope, has shown an intention to give up an American citizen.
“I think it is very unlikely that the United States will move to end the citizenship of the Pope,” said Spiro.
Can the Pope remain a citizen of Peru?
The Peruvian law has no conflict with Pope Leo remaining a citizen, said Jorge Puch, deputy director of the archives of the national register of identification and civil status of Peru.
Leo was granted Peruvian citizenship In August 2015, the month before Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Chiclayo in the northern region of the country of South America. To qualify, he had to live in Peru for at least two years and pass a civic test.
“It is the most commendable thing that our supreme beloved Pontiff could have done: wanting to have Peruvian nationality without being Peruvian by birth,” said Puch.
All Adult Peruvians, including naturalized citizens, are required to vote in the elections until the 699 years. Voting in the presidential election of Peru next April will not be compulsory for Leo. He is 70 years old in September.
Have the previous popes kept citizenship in their country of origin?
We do not know what happened to the citizenship status of the predecessors of Leo once they have become Pope. This is not information that the Vatican reveals.
Pope Francis has renewed its passport In his country of origin, Argentina in 2014, the year after his arrival Pope. Pope Benedict XVI and Pope of German origin, from Poland, have never publicly abandoned citizenship in their country of origin.
John Paul was the first non -Italian pope in 455 years.
Margaret Susan Thompson, a history professor at the University of Syracuse and an expert in American Catholicism, said that she doubts that Leo will give up his American citizenship. But she thinks that the new pope sent a message when he delivered his first speech in Italian and Spanish without using English.
“I think he wants to emphasize that he is the pope of the universal Catholic Church,” said Thompson, “and not an American occupying this position.”
Have other American citizens were leaders of a foreign government?
Yes. Here are some notable examples.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was born in New York to British parents in 1964. He left the United States as a young boy and renounced his American citizenship In 2016 While being secretary to foreign affairs of the United Kingdom. Johnson became Prime Minister three years later.
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was an American citizen when he was elected president of Somalia in 2017. Born in Somalia, he moved to the United States in 1985 and became a citizen in the 1990s. Mohamed abandoned his American citizenship two years after his presidency.
Valdas Adamkus became an American citizen after his family fled Lithuania to escape the Soviet occupation. He returned to win the presidency of Lithuania in 1998, years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He abandoned his American citizenship after being elected.
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The journalist after Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed to this story. Bynum reported to Savannah, in Georgia.
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