Pope Leo XIV deemed first Creole pope

The new pope?s French-sounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, a New Orleans genealogist, who began digging in the archives and discovered the pope had deep roots in the Big Easy. All four of Pope Leo XIV?s maternal great-grandparents were ?free people of color? in Louisiana based on 19th-century census records, Honora found. As part of the melting pot of French, Spanish, African and Native American cultures in Louisiana, the pope?s maternal ancestors would be considered Creole.