As the world continues to celebrate Pope Leo XIV as the new leader of the Catholic Church, there’s one important thing folks should know about him. On Thursday (May 8), Leo was named the first American-born pope in history. But his lineage has deeper ties to the intricate fabric of the Black American South.
Born Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Leo XIV represents a new wave of leadership. The pope not only made history as a Chicago-born leader, but according to genealogists, he comes from a family reflective of the racial complexities in the country. Of course, he identifies as white, but his family history shockingly ties him directly to Black and Creole communities in Louisiana.
A genealogist with the Historic New Orleans Collection, Jari C. Honora, made the discovery the same day Leo XIV was named pope. And the pope’s older brother, John Prevost, who still lives in Chicago, confirmed the bombshell findings to the New York Times shortly afterwards.
“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 his findings, the pope’s maternal side can be traced back to the 1840s’ “free people of color” in New Orleans— a city with a significant Catholic population— Honora told Forbes. Pope Leo XIV’s maternal grandparents and his mother’s older siblings, were “identified in records as Black or mulatto” in historic documents, although they “passed … into a white racial identity” after moving to Chicago.
That’s where Leo’s mother, Mildred Martinez, was born in 1912, according to her birth certificate obtained by the New York Times. But before the family migrated north, the pope’s grandparents lived in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, an historically Black neighborhood which has a 74 percent Black population, according to bestneighborhood.org.
Honora said on Facebook, “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.”
Is Pope Leo XIV the First Black Pope?
Pope Leo XIV hasn’t publicly spoken about his heritage. And as far as we know, he identifies as white and Peruvian, as he is a naturalized citizen of the country, according to NorthJersey.com.
Honora weighed in on the complex question to Black Catholic Messenger. “It’s more complicated than that,” he began. “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.”