Pope Leo is a lifelong American citizen. But as Pope he is also the leader of Vatican City, an internationally recognized sovereign nation. Can an American citizen lead a foreign nation? And can a Pope retain foreign citizenship?
The answers are yes and yes – but it rarely happens.
The law of the United States allows double citizenship. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a double citizen who became a foreign head of the State would not necessarily lose US citizenship if he or she wanted to keep it.
And the holy chair has a pope retained other citizenships. Pope Francis retained his Argentinian nationality and even his Argentinian passport renewed In 2017. There are two predecessors also retained their native country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains On his website, the ‘active revision’ of cases of foreign heads of state who want to retain US citizenship will warn that such cases “raise complex questions of international law,” including those related to immunity of American legal jurisdiction.
Foreign leaders who want to keep American nationality can inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of their preference, says the department, while a person who wants to give up citizenship, must inform an American embassy or consulate ”and follow the required steps.”
In rare cases, American citizens have served as foreign heads of state. The former president of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, was born in Somalia, but lived in the United States and became a naturalized American citizen before his 2017 elections. He distance from his American citizenship Two years later, in the midst of accusations of double loyalty.
Vatican City, where the Pope lives, is controlled by the Holy chair, which is considered a sovereign government. It is recognized by the United Nations, although it chooses to keep the status of the permanent observer there instead of the full member status, “in the first place because of the desire of the Holy Sea to preserve absolute neutrality in specific political problems”, the mission of the Holy chair at the UN says on her website.
Pope Leo is also a citizen of Peru, who makes double citizenship possible, although it is unclear whether it has laws that apply to a citizen who becomes a foreign head of the state.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comments about the circumstances of Pope Leo and the Vatican did not publicly state his plans.
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