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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, According to an article by The New York Times. His ancestors, who dates back to a historical Encyclve of Afro -Karbbe culture, colleague Leo XIV with the rich already ignored by the black Catholic experience in the United States, underlines the newspaper.
According to him TimesRobert Francis Prevost, the cardinal chosen on Thursday while the new pope who replaces the deceased Francisco, descends from the Creoli of New Orleans. His maternal grandparents, both described as blacks or mulehs in various historical records, lived in the seventh district of the city, a traditionally Catholic area and a melting pot of people with African, Caribbean and European roots, the newspaper underlines. The grandparents, Joseph Martínez and Louise Zaquié, moved to Chicago at the beginning of the twentieth century and had a daughter: Mildred Martínez, the Pope’s mother.
The discovery means that Leo XIV is not just 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 was discovered on Thursday by the Genealogist of New Orleans, Jari C. Honora, and confirmed at the New York Times from Pope’s older brother, John Prevost, 71 years old, residing in Chicago. “This discovery is just a reminder of how much we have not intertwined that we are like Americans,” Honora said in a text message on Thursday evening. “I hope it highlights the long history of black Catholics, both free and slavery, in this country, which includes the family of the Holy Father.”
It is not clear if the new Pope has ever mentioned his Creola ancestors in public and his brother said that the family did not identify himself 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 historical collection of New Orleans, a museum in the French district, began to investigate the background of the Pope because of his French name, Prevost, but quickly found ties with the South.
The researcher found evidence on this topic as a wedding certificate of his grandparents, of his wedding in the seventh district in 1887, a photo of the plaque of the Martínez family in Chicago and an electronic birth birth certificate of Mildred Martínez showing that he was born in Chicago in 1912.
The birth certificate mentions Joseph Martínez Ya Louis Biejex as Mildred’s parents. Father’s hometown appears in the Dominican Republic; That of the mother, in New Orleans.
Honora also claims to have found record of the 1900 census indicating that Martínez was “black”, his birthplace as “Haytí” and his occupation as “Tabaquero”. The exact place of Joseph Martínez is still a mystery. Honora also found a census record of 1870 which indicates that Pope’s maternal grandfather was born in Louisiana. However, he stressed that it was not uncommon for people to change their answers in official records.
Creoli, also known as “Creole People of Color”, have an almost old story like that of Louisiana. While the word Creolo can refer to people of European origin born in America, it commonly describes the mixed people, recalls the newspaper. (Efe)
