Pope Leo XIV’s Creole roots reveal a hidden chapter in American Catholic history

Pope Leo XIV’s Creole roots reveal a hidden chapter in American Catholic history

Robert Francis Prevost, elected Thursday as Pope Leo XIV, is making history not only as the first US-born pontiff, but also as a descendant of Creole people of colour from New Orleans — a lineage that connects the head of the Roman Catholic Church to a vibrant yet often overlooked segment of American religious and cultural history, the New York Times reported.

Maternal roots in New Orleans' Seventh Ward

The revelation comes from genealogist Jari C. Honora, who uncovered historical records tracing the pope’s maternal grandparents — Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié — to New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, a historically Catholic neighbourhood with deep African, Caribbean, and French influences. Various census and birth records describe both grandparents as Black or mulatto.

Martinez and Baquié married in 1887 at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, a church in the heart of the Afro-Creole community. Before it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1915, the church was a spiritual home for many free people of color known as “gens de couleur libres,” who were French-speaking, Catholic, and well-established in business, music, and education.

The couple later moved to Chicago, where their daughter, Mildred Martinez — the future pope’s mother — was born in 1912.

A complex American identity

While the new pope has not publicly acknowledged his Creole ancestry, the discovery — confirmed by his older brother, John Prevost — adds a rich layer to his identity. The family did not identify as Black, and, like many Creole families of the time, may have “passed” as white during a period when racial categorization was rigidly enforced.

“We feel, many of us, that our history was hidden from us,” said Lolita Villavasso Cherrie of the Creole Genealogical and Historical Association. “This is a moment of pride.”

A symbol of American diversity

Genealogist Honora, who made the discovery while investigating the pope’s French-sounding surname, emphasized the broader meaning of Leo XIV’s roots: “This is an additional reminder of how interwoven we are as Americans.” He added that it’s also a moment to recognize the long-standing — and often erased — history of Black Catholics in the US.

Though the church's announcement of the new pope focused on his work in Chicago and Peru, his ancestral story is now bringing attention to the lesser-known contributions of Afro-Creole Catholics, many of whom shaped New Orleans and later migrated north.

As Pope Leo XIV begins his papacy, his family history stands as a symbol of the complex threads that make up the American fabric — one in which race, faith, migration, and identity intersect in unexpected and deeply meaningful ways.