Pope Leo's family tree shows ties to a prominent Creole family of color in Louisiana

Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S. pope, descends from Creole and free people of color in Louisiana, highlighting complex issues to race and class in American history.

As the first Catholic pope from the United States, Pope Leo XIV has an ancestry that traces back to the Creole and free people of color from Louisiana, illustrating complex and interconnected issues of race and class in American history.

“His rise is not just a religious milestone, it’s a historical affirmation,” genealogist and former official Louisiana state archivist Alex DaPaul Lee said of the man previously known as Cardinal Robert Prevost.

Alex DaPaul Lee, founder of Alex Genealogy and Southwest Louisiana Genealogy Researchers.Courtesy of Alex DaPaul LeeWhen Lee first heard about the pope’s Creole roots from fellow genealogist Jamarlon Glenn, he responded, “There’s no way,” Lee said with a laugh. “But then I began going down a rabbit hole of research.”Lee, the founder of Alex Genealogy and Southwest Louisiana Genealogy Researchers, discovered troves of documents in his collection and gathered records from his network of genealogists that confirmed information about Pope Leo’s background. It also showed generations of Catholicism within Prevost’s family.

“It didn’t take long for me to realize that he was a Creole from the seventh ward of New Orleans, Louisiana, which was a prominent place for Louisiana Creoles,” he said.

John Prevost, brother of Pope Leo XIV, holds a 1958 portrait of the three brothers. From left, Pope Leo, John and Louis.Obed Lamy / APThe news of the pope’s Creole roots was also noted by genealogist Jari C. Honora. Leo’s brother John Prevost confirmed the connection to The New York Times and said he and his brothers had never talked about it. “It was never an issue,” John Prevost told the Times.Although his paternal surname, “Prevost,” is common in Louisiana, Lee said a strong Creole connection was actually found in Pope Leo’s maternal ancestry: His great-great-grandmother Celeste Lemelle was the daughter of two free people of color, Louis Lemelle and Celeste Olimpie Grandpres. They married in Opelousas, Louisiana, in 1798, and were legally classified as “quadroons.”