OPINION:
Beyond the novelty, “Pope Leo poised to make history by voting in U.S. midterm election (Web, Oct.30) exposes the potential threat to U.S. security presented by dual or even triple citizenship.
Foolishly, in Afroyim v. Rusk in 1967, the Supreme Court relied on the 14th Amendment and ruled that citizenship could only be lost by voluntary renunciation. This left the door open to dual citizenship and completely overturned prior U.S. policy prohibiting it.
The pope is a Peruvian citizen, having spent over 20 years there since 1985. Notably, he has reportedly not been in the U.S. since September 2015. And, as the elected monarch for life of Vatican City State, he effectively has triple citizenship.
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But considering that citizenship carries with it the obligation of loyalty and allegiance, to whom does Pope Leo owe loyalty and allegiance?
The Catholic and other churches have a history of providing humanitarian assistance to migrants pushing toward the border, effectively helping subvert U.S. immigration law. The Catholic Casa del Migrante in Tijuana has provided assistance to 270,000 migrants, including ones from Cuba, Russia and China, going back to 1987.
There have been reports of the Catholic Church in Guatemala actively providing financial support to a caravan heading toward the United States.
Pope Leo has absolute authority over every cardinal archbishop and bishop in the world. As a triple citizen, is Pope Leo loyal to the United States, Vatican City or South American socialist interests? If one of the latter two, does that pose a threat to U.S. security?
WILLIAM T. FIDURKSI
Clark, New Jersey
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