Pope’s creole roots revealed

A screen flashes the news of new Pope Leo XIV, during the second round match between Italys’ Fabio Fognini and Britain’s Jacob Fearnley at the Italian Open tennis tournament,
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Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse

Last updated:
20 hours ago

afro-descendents

The new pope’s French-sounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, a New Orleans family historian, who began digging in the archives and discovered the pope had deep roots in the Big Easy. All four of Pope Leo XIV’s maternal great-grandparents would have been considered “free people of color” in Louisiana based on 19th-century census records, Honora found.

As part of the melting pot of French, Spanish, Native American and African cultures blending in Louisiana, the pope’s maternal family would be considered Creole, he said. Meanwhile, former Mayor of New Orleans, Marc Morial says he has contradictory feelings. He’s a Catholic with Creole heritage who grew up near the neighborhood where the pope’s grandparents lived.

While he’s proud of the pope’s connection to his city, Morial said the new pontiff’s maternal family’s shifting racial identity highlights “the idea that in America people had to escape their authenticity to be able to survive.”