The new pope reportedly has ties to Black and Creole communities in Louisiana.
On Thursday (May 8), Robert Francis Prevost was named Pope Leo XIV and the new leader of the Catholic Church.
Pope Leo XIV, who made history as the first American-born pope, was born in Chicago and identifies as white, but comes from a family with ties directly to the Black American South, according to genealogists per the New York Times.
Jari C. Honora, a genealogist with the Historic New Orleans Collections, said the discovery was made on the same day as the new pope’s announcement.
“This discovery is just an additional reminder of how interwoven we are as Americans,” Honora said late Thursday. “I hope that it will highlight the long history of Black Catholics, both free and enslaved, in this country, which includes the Holy Father’s family.”
According to genealogists, the pope’s maternal side can be traced back to the 1840s “free people of color” in New Orleans. In historic documents, Pope Leo XIV’s maternal grandparents and aunts were “identified in records as Black or mulatto,” but they “passed…into a white racial identity” after moving to Chicago.
Mildred Martinez, the pope’s mother, was born in Chicago in 1912. Before the family immigrated north, the pope’s grandparents reportedly lived in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, a historically Black neighborhood.
“His grandparents were married in 1887 at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Annette Street. In 1900, his grandparents owned and lived at 1933 North Prieur Street, a site taken by the Claiborne overpass,” Honora said.
Pope Leo XIV hasn’t publicly spoken about his heritage, but has previously identified as white and Peruvian. The pope’s brother, John Prevost, who still lives in Chicago, confirmed genealogist findings.
“I think that a person can be of Black ancestry or have Black roots, but to identify as Black, I think, is all about the lived experience,” Honora said.
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