Let's talk about the first black pope: Pope Leo XIV has Creole lineage, New Orleans genealogist says

[cbabe]

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/09/us/pope-leo-creole-lineage-hnk

Pope Leo XIV has Creole lineage, New Orleans genealogist says

By
Taylor Romine, Matthew Rehbein

…

Both of Leo’s maternal grandparents, Joseph and Louise Martinez, are listed as Black in a Census record from 1900. Joseph is recorded as a cigar maker who was born in “Hayti.” The Census record shows the couple as living in New Orlean’s Seventh Ward, historically a melting pot of cultures in the Crescent City.

“The family were free people of color prior to the Civil War. When they move to Chicago between 1910 and 1912, they ‘passed’ into the White world,” Honora told CNN.

… more …

[EYESORE 9001]

1. I can hear the gnashing of white supremacist teeth from here

Granted, there aren’t that many teeth left to grind with some of them, but you know this has gotta sting

[Srkdqltr]

2. Just goes to show, you never know. You too could have ancestors who passed.

[BOSSHOG]

3. Let the good times roll

Pope Leo, King of Mardi Gras and leader of Jazz Parades. Krewe of Immigrants. The Big Easy Indeed.

Rage on MAGA world. Hate is all ya got going.

[LAS14]

4. I bet more than one Italian pope over the centuries had African genes. nt

[cbabe]

5. A black friend discovered he had 24% nordic

heritage. New meaning to t calling for more people from Norway. Would enjoy introducing them.

[Happy Hoosier]

6. Kinda bothered by the "one drop" aspect of this...

I mean, I am 1% Seneglaese according to my DNA. Am I "black?" Well... no. I am human, and so are people from Senegal. I am very distantly related to some of them. But WE're all very distantly related to each other. WHat would make him "black" is not just DNA, but cultural experience. Race is a social construct...

[cbabe]

7. Yes. But it's a poke in the eye with a sharp stick to maga bigots.

[Happy Hoosier]

8. OKay, I get that.... I'm just wondering if they are call him an "Octaroon" next. NT

[Ms. Toad]

11. That discussion is going on in another thread,

For me it is the distinction between lived experience and ancestry.

He had black/Creole grandparent who passed. They had a very different lived experience - which may well have included early experiences in a family/community in which they lived and we're perceived as black/Creole and anxiety about being found out when they later passed as white, struggle with the choices they made and how it impacted their relationships with their families (all things I have read about from first hand accounts). That is very different from being two generations removed from that experience.

I am thrilled that he has that ancestry - and for the representation it gives people is those communities - and would even love to hear him speak about how that played out in his life. I am less thrilled with people putting words in his mouth about how he perceives himself.

[malaise]

12. His great grandparents were

Africans from Haiti - that is hardly one drop.

[roamer65]

9. Cool!

[malaise]

10. I love this yuh see

😀😀

Any bets there is a direct connection to Haiti and movements during the Revolution.