The new Pope also has Creole roots in New Orleans, according to ‘The New York Times’
The new Pope, Leo XIV, born in the American city of Chicago, also has Creole roots from New Orleans city, reports The New York Times. Its ancestry, which dates back to a historical enclave of Afro -Caribbean culture, links Leo XIV with the rich already ignored black Catholic experience in the United States, the newspaper points out.
According to him TimesRobert Francis Prevost, the cardinal chosen Thursday as the new Pope replacing the late Francisco, descends from Creoles of New Orleans. His maternal grandparents, both described as blacks or mulatto in various historical records, lived in the seventh district of the city, a traditionally Catholic area and a crucible people with African, Caribbean and European roots, the newspaper emphasizes. The grandparents, Joseph Martínez and Louise Baquié, moved to Chicago in the early twentieth century and had a daughter: Mildred Martínez, the mother of the Pope.
The discovery means that Leo XIV is not only a pioneer as the first pontiff born in the United States. It also comes from a family that reflects the multiple threads that make up the complex and rich American history.
The Pope’s background were unearthed Thursday by the New Orleans genealogist, Jari C. Honora, and confirmed to The New York Times by Pope’s older brother, John Prevost, 71, a resident in Chicago. “This discovery is just a reminder than we are intertwined that we are as Americans,” said Honora in a text message on Thursday night. “I hope it highlights the long history of black Catholics, both free and enslaved, in this country, which includes the Holy Father’s family.”
It is not clear if the new Pope has ever mentioned his Creole ancestry in public, and his brother said that the family did not identify as black. The announcement of his choice in Rome focused on his youth in Chicago and his decades of service in Peru.
Honora, who works in the New Orleans historic collection, a museum in the French neighborhood, began investigating the Pope’s background due to his French name, Prevost, but quickly found connections with the South.
The researcher has found evidences on this subject as the marriage certificate of his grandparents, of his wedding in the seventh district in 1887, a photo of the tombstone of the Martínez family in Chicago and an electronic birth certificate of Mildred Martínez that shows that he was born in Chicago in 1912.
The birth certificate mentions Joseph Martínez Ya Louis Biejex as Mildred’s parents. The birthplace of the father appears in the Dominican Republic; that of the mother, in New Orleans.
Honora also says that he found records of the 1900 census that indicate that Martínez was “black”, his place of birth as “Haytí” and his occupation as “tabaquero”. Joseph Martínez’s exact place is still a mystery. Honora also found a 1870 census record that indicates that Pope’s maternal grandfather was born in Louisiana. However, he pointed out that it was not uncommon for people to change their answers in official records.
The Creoles, also known as “Creole people of color”, have an almost as old story as that of Louisiana. While the word Creole can refer to people of European descent born in America, it commonly describes mestizo people, recalls the newspaper. (EFE)
