New pope voted in Republican primaries, Illinois records show

The new pope, Leo XIV, voted in Republican primaries in Illinois, voting records viewed by CNN show.

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The former Robert Francis Prevost has lived and worked all over the world but is registered to vote in New Lenox, a suburb southwest of Chicago, CNN reports. He was born in Chicago and was vocation director and missions director of the Augustinian Province of Mother of Good Counsel in another suburb, Olympia Fields, briefly in the late 1980s. He has a brother who lives in New Lenox.

Related: 'JD Vance is wrong,' new Pope Leo XIV once posted on social media

Related: LGBTQ+ Catholic organization's leader says he's 'hopeful' about Pope Leo XIV

Records that the Will County Clerk’s Office in Illinois provided to CNN show he voted in the Republican primaries of 2012, 2014, and 2016. Illinois voters do not have to register as a member of a particular party, but they can choose a party primary in which to vote. 2012 and 2016 were presidential election years, with Mitt Romney becoming the Republican nominee in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016.

Prevost voted in the general elections of 2024, 2018, 2014 and 2012. Who he voted for in either primaries or general elections is secret, as it is for all American citizens.

He has a mixed record on LGBTQ+ issues. In 2012, at a meeting of bishops, he criticized “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children” as being “at odds with the gospel.” He has also objected to the teaching of what he called “gender ideology” in schools. But at other times, he has expressed sympathy for the LGBTQ+ community.

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LGBTQ+ Catholic groups said they hoped his views had evolved or will evolve. “We pray that Pope Leo XIV will demonstrate a willingness to listen and grow as he begins his new role as the leader of the global Church,” said a statement from DignityUSA.

“We hope that he will further educate himself by meeting with and listening to LGBTQ+ Catholics and their supporters,” added Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry. “Catholics need to be freed from the deadening homophobia and transphobia which strangles their personal and spiritual growth.”

Michael O’Loughlin, executive director of Outreach, gave The Advocate this statement: “From his choice of name honoring a pope committed to justice, to his call for a church focused on peace and dialogue, early signs show that Pope Leo XIV hopes to continue the pastoral outreach of Pope Francis. While we do not yet know how the new pope will interact with LGBT Catholics, the same was true in 2013 on the night Pope Francis was elected, and his pontificate wound up being inspiring to so many in our community.”