When his Creole roots were later revealed, the surprise only grew — especially among Haitian Catholics. For many, including Floranel Joseph, a parishioner of St. Jerome Church in East Flatbush, the ...

The revelation that Pope Leo XIV has Louisiana Creole roots shines a light on a community of Catholics that has shaped New Orleans, from a famous Voodoo priestess to the self-proclaimed inventor ...

The pope’s great-great-grandmother Celeste Lemelle was a free woman of color from a Creole family that made its wealth from cattle ranching.

After his father died, Mark Charles Roudané, a retired Minnesota schoolteacher, began going through his dad’s papers. There were scores of binders, the records of a life as a prosperous, white ...

The curious background of Pope Leo XIV, the North American formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, is already making waves, with some calling the new pontiff the first Black pope and others ...

Dr. Hermene Hartman, Chicago media pioneer and founder of N’Digo, joins Lisa Dent to discuss Pope Leo XIV. Dr. Hartman calls him a true ‘South-sider’ and discusses the Pope’s Creole background.

The revelation that Leo XIV has roots among New Orleans Creoles has stirred curiosity and joy about the first pope from the United States.

Although Pope Leo’s background is more lined with Spanish descent because of his father’s Italian and French heritage and because he was a Cardinal in Peru, it’s clear he does have Creole African and ...

Pope Leo XIV has Creole roots in New Orleans, 'a blessing' for the diaspora, advocate says The pope’s maternal grandparents are described as Black or a person of mixed white and Black ancestry ...

The newly elected pontiff is not known to have publicly commented on his Creole ancestry, which includes people of mixed Spanish or French and Black descent. And the family did not identify as Black, ...

‘It’s beautiful to see’: Black Bostonians react to the pope’s Creole ancestry By Danny McDonald Globe Staff,Updated May 9, 2025, 5:33 p.m.