When Henry Louis Gates Jr. got down to hint the household tree of America’s first pope, he had no concept he was about to uncover one of the vital various and complicated ancestries in his decades-long profession.
The Emmy-nominated host of PBS’ “Discovering Your Roots” found that Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, shares bloodlines with among the world’s largest celebrities whereas additionally carrying the profound legacy of each enslaved folks and enslavers in his household historical past.
In response to the New York Instances, the genealogical journey revealed connections that stretch throughout continents and centuries.
By way of a maternal ancestor born within the 1590s, the 69-year-old pontiff is ninth cousins a number of instances eliminated to a formidable roster of A-list figures together with Angelina Jolie, Justin Bieber, Canadian Prime Ministers Pierre and Justin Trudeau, Hillary Clinton, and pop star Madonna.
Gates took to social media with a quip that performed on the pope’s place as a cleric and Madonna’s hit tune, “Like a Prayer.”
It’s like a prayer… and a plot twist.
By way of a distant relative @madonna and Pope Leo are associated! Learn extra concerning the Pope’s ancestry right here: https://t.co/j28uJr3NNX https://t.co/CEpzBb4VB3 pic.twitter.com/l9c7n213Bs
— Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGates) June 16, 2025
This outstanding net of relationships traces again by way of French-Canadian lineage.
Gates, 74, was in a position to hint Pope Leo’s ancestry again an astounding 15 generations, uncovering tales that span from Sixteenth-century Spanish the Aristocracy to the complicated racial dynamics of New Orleans. The analysis revealed a wealthy tapestry of African ancestry, with the Pope descending from an extended line of people — a minimum of 17 — who have been recognized in varied data as “mulatto,” “mulatress,” “mulâtress créole,” “free individual of colour” and “quadroon.”
“On Saturday, my spouse, the historian Dr. Marial Iglesias Utset, and I have been granted the profound honor of a non-public viewers with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV on the Vatican to current him with a replica of his household tree,” Gates shared on Instagram following their July 5 assembly.
The second represented the end result of in depth analysis carried out in collaboration with genealogists at American Ancestors and the Cuban Family tree Membership of Miami.
Among the many most important discoveries was the Pope’s maternal grandfather, Joseph Martínez Ramos, who was born in Haiti, as famous within the 1900 U.S. Census, and later resided in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward, a traditionally Creole neighborhood. This connection to Haiti provides one other layer to the Pope’s African heritage.
The analysis additionally uncovered the profound contradiction inside the Pope’s ancestry — he descends from each enslaved folks and enslavers. His fourth-great-grandfather François Lemelle enslaved a minimum of 20 folks, whereas his second-great-grandfathers Joseph Aristide Baquié and Eugène Grambois enslaved three and 5 folks respectively. Charles Louis Boucher de Grandpre, who served as Spanish governor of the Baton Rouge District, owned a minimum of 11 enslaved folks whereas additionally fathering Celeste Olympe de Granpre, the Pope’s third-great-grandmother, who was listed as a “free quadroon.”
“She and I had labored with an impressive group of researchers to publish it in The New York Instances Sunday Journal and have been deeply grateful for the possibility to stroll His Holiness by way of the branches of his household tree, sharing tales of his ancestors again to his twelfth great-grandparents who have been born some 500 years in the past,” Gates continued in his heartfelt social media submit concerning the Vatican assembly.
The genealogical analysis additionally revealed the Pope’s various geographical roots, with 40 ancestors from France, 24 from Italy, and 21 from Spain. New Orleans, the place lots of his ancestors settled, served as an important melting pot the place French, Spanish, Native American, and African cultures intersected. By 1805, greater than half of the town’s inhabitants was composed of enslaved and free folks of colour, making it the right backdrop for the Pope’s multicultural heritage.
Many followers chimed in on-line to precise their amazement over the second. One wrote, “Whoa, that is unbelievable,” whereas one other added, “What an incredible assembly.” Others echoed the sentiment with feedback like “Wow, simply wow.”
Past the ancestral revelations, it is sensible that Pope Leo XIV has garnered consideration for his outspoken criticism of immigration insurance policies.
Earlier than his historic election, the then-Cardinal Prevost challenged deportation practices by way of social media, posting “Do you not see the struggling? Is your conscience not disturbed? How are you going to keep quiet?” in response to the deportation of a Maryland father regardless of a court docket order.
Regardless of their coverage variations, President Trump provided congratulations following the papal election, posting: “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was simply named Pope. It’s such an honor to appreciate that he’s the primary American Pope. What pleasure, and what a Nice Honor for our Nation. I look ahead to assembly Pope Leo XIV. Will probably be a really significant second!”
For Gates, the expertise of presenting this analysis to the Pope represented a profession spotlight. “This was one of the vital significant and deeply transferring moments of our lives,” he mirrored, noting that after greater than a decade of genealogical work, the Pope’s roots make for one of the vital various household bushes his group has ever created.
The invention serves as a robust reminder of how America’s complicated historical past of race, immigration, and identification continues to form even the very best ranges of world management.
