Can Pope Leo XIV remain a U.S. citizen now that he’s a foreign head of state? | What to know

The election of Pope Liu XIV as the first leader of the newborn in the United States of the Catholic Church raised him to the very rare and fork position, the position of an American citizen who is now a foreign president of the state.

He was born in Chicago in the role of Robert Brevost in 1955, and over the past decade the new Pope has retained the double citizenship in the United States and Peru, where he spent a time and bishop.

As the Pope, Liu works as a leader for both the Apostolic Chair, the ruling body of the Catholic Church, and the Vatican city, an independent country.

Can the Pope remain an American citizen while leading a foreign government? Here are things to know about the nationality of Leo.

Is the Vatican considered a sovereign nation?

In addition to being the spiritual leader of what the Church says is approximately 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, Liu is also the head of what has been recognized as the smallest nation in the world.

The Vatican city covers only 0.17 square miles (0.44 square kilometers) with a population of a few hundred people. It became an independent country in 1929 under a treaty between Italy and the Holy See.

Can Leo be stripped of his American nationality?

Americans working for foreign governments are not at risk of losing their nationality in the United States.

But the US State Department says on its website that it may “review” the citizenship of the Americans who “act as a foreign head of state, a foreign government or a foreign minister.”

“Such cases raise complicated questions about international law, including cases related to the level of immunity from the American judicial jurisdiction that the person who serves this may be granted,” politics states.

The Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the Pope’s situation. A spokesman for the administration does not discuss the nationality of individuals.

Peter Spearo, professor of the Temple University Law and expert in the Nationality Law, said the basic issue is whether foreign leaders should hold American citizenship when they also enjoy the wide immunity of American laws. Such immunity is a collision with the constitutional principle of the absence of an American citizen above the law.

However, the US Supreme Court ruled in a 1980 -decision that the Americans cannot be stripped of their nationality unless they intentionally abandoned it.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs never assumes that you intend to lose your nationality unless you say that specifically through the abandonment process,” said Spearo.

He said it would be difficult to say that Liu, by becoming the Pope, showed an intention to give up being an American citizen.

“I think it is unlikely that the United States will move to end the nationality of the Pope,” Spearo said.

Can the Pope remain a citizen in Peru?

Jorge Bush, deputy director of the registration archive in the National Identity and Civil Status Registry, said that the Peruvian law does not contradict Pope Liu, a citizen.

Leo was granted citizenship in Peru in August 2015, the month that Pope Francis, Bishop of Chicoli in the northern region of South America. To qualify, he had to live in Peru for at least two years and a civilian test is being done.

Bush said: “It is the most worthy thing that is worthy of it worthy of worthy of it worthy of it worthy of the worthy of the merit that the Supreme Habibi can do: the desire to obtain the nationality of Peru without being in Peru to give birth.”

All adult adults, including homogeneous citizens, are required to vote in elections within the age of 69. The vote in the presidential elections in Peru will not be mandatory for Leo. 70 years old in September.

Did the previous popes keep the nationality in their countries of origin?

It is not clear what happened to the state of citizenship for the ancestors of Liu as soon as they become the Pope. This is not information revealed by the Vatican.

Pope Francis renewed his passport in his homeland in Argentina in 2014, the year followed by the Pope. Pope Benedict XVI, born in Germany and Pope John Paul II, born Poland, did not give up publicly in their countries of origin.

John Paul was the first non -Italian Pope in 455 years.

Margaret Susan Thompson, a professor of the history of the University of Sirachews and an expert in Catholicism, said she suspects that Leo will give up his American nationality. But she believes that the new Pope was sending a message when he delivered his first speech in Italian and Spanish without using the English language.

Tomson said: “I think he wants to stress that he is the Pope of the comprehensive Catholic Church, and not an American with this position,” Tomson said.

Did other American citizens worked as a foreign government leaders?

Yes. Here are some prominent examples.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was born in New York for British parents in 1964. He left the United States as a young boy and abandoned his American nationality in 2016 while working as foreign minister in the United Kingdom. Johnson became Prime Minister after three years.

Muhammad Abdullah Muhammad was an American citizen when he was elected President of Somalia in 2017. He was born in Somalia, moved to the United States in 1985 and became a citizen in the nineties. Muhammad abandoned his American nationality in his presidency.

Valdas Adamkos became an American citizen after his family fled Lithuania to escape from the Soviet occupation. He returned to win the presidency of Lithuania in 1998, after years of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He abandoned his American nationality after his election.

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AP Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed to this story. Benom mentioned Savana, Georgia.

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Costmo Press Religion coverage is received by AP cooperation with our conversation, funded by Lilly Endment Inc. , AP only responsible for this content.