The world is still adjusting to the historic election of Pope Leo XIV—the first American Pope and a native of the Chicago area—but new revelations about his ancestry are drawing attention far beyond the Vatican.
According to leading genealogists, Pope Leo’s family history reveals a deep and complex African American lineage, with roots stretching back to New Orleans and Haiti.
"I looked into some of the birth certificates, death certificates, census records," Chicago-based genealogist Tony Burroughs said. “And sure enough, his ancestors were Black—listed as Black at some period.”
Burroughs, who has spent decades researching African American genealogies, said the findings are both fascinating and not uncommon. "I was able to go back to the 1850s, and they were listed as mulattos in 1850, 1860, 1870. Then when you get to 1880, they were listed as white. When you get to 1900, they were listed as Black, and then after that, they were listed as white," he said.
Jari Honora, a genealogist based in New Orleans, made similar discoveries while researching the Pope’s maternal line.
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WATCH HERE“While the Pope’s mother was born in 1911 up in Chicago, her six older sisters and her parents were all very much from New Orleans,” Honora said. “Them and their ancestors were fairly consistently listed as colored or mulatto or Black in census documents and in vital records.”
Honora traced the family’s history through the early 20th century, noting that around 1910–1911, the Pope’s maternal ancestors left New Orleans for Chicago and “passed for white,” or as Honora explained, “Passe-Blanc,” a term used in Louisiana to describe light-skinned individuals of African descent who assimilated into white communities.
This racial transition, both genealogists said, was a strategic and often necessary act for families seeking safety, opportunity and dignity amid the rigid racial barriers of the time.
“They were able to move up on that economic ladder,” Burroughs said. “So it’s basically a defensive mechanism.”
Honora echoed that sentiment, adding, “The challenges that they faced were in so many different avenues—sometimes even within the church, where there was segregated seating and later segregated parishes.”
The genealogical revelations come as social media buzzes with discussions about Pope Leo’s racial identity—conversations that may prompt a broader understanding of America’s diverse history and the often-hidden stories within family trees.
“We all sort of share from a common American story,” Honora said. “Despite the ethnic or racial identity identifiers that we may use, our family stories are interwoven.”
While Pope Leo has yet to address these findings publicly, Burroughs believes it’s only a matter of time. “The cat is out of the bag,” he said. “There are going to be some journalists that are going to ask him about it, and he’s going to have to respond.”
Both genealogists hope the discovery will inspire others—especially African Americans—to explore their own histories more deeply.
“It’s a lot more than just taking a spit swab,” Burroughs said. “Hopefully this will spur more people to get into genealogy and actually look at the records and learn about their own families.”
Honora added that he hopes the Pope’s story will also bring more attention to the six African American candidates for sainthood in the United States, including Henriette Delille of New Orleans—a free woman of color who founded the Sisters of the Holy Family.
“I would definitely tell the Holy Father to come to New Orleans,” Honora said. “It’s been 38 years since we had a papal visit. And now, we have a Pope with New Orleans roots.”
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