Pope Leo XIV publicly acknowledges African roots in newly released interview

Pope Leo XIV has publicly acknowledged his African roots for the first time, in a new interview published this week with Elise Ann Allen of Crux, ahead of a new biography by Allen released on Thursday in Spanish.

A video recording of the English-language conversation from late July was shared online Sept. 14, quickly garnering more than 70,000 views across social media.

“I knew some of what's been published, but a lot has been discovered that I wasn't aware of… My brother just got a book that was published in France talking about the African roots, which there apparently are, and French and Italian and Spanish and Cuban and Haitian, and Peruvian—because of the Spanish connection,” Pope Leo said, in response to a question about his American and Latin American perspectives.

“All of that together, along with my experience, especially as prior general, in getting to know the Church around the world, has given me, I think, a real appreciation for the wonderful wealth of traditions and cultures and languages that make up the world and, of course, the Church.”

The comments are the first from Pope Leo on his ethnic roots since his election in May as supreme pontiff, which brought global shockwaves due to his identity as an American. Multiple Black genealogists, including New Orleans historian Jari Honora, soon revealed that Leo—born Robert Prevost in Chicago—is the grandson of a mixed-race Black Creole from Louisiana, the late Louise Baquié Martinez. 

Amid his whirlwind acclimation to his worldwide office as head of the Catholic Church, Leo has also become more acquainted with his ethnic history, most recently by way of a private audience in July with Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr.

During their meeting, an extensive family tree was shared with the Holy Father, detailing his family’s connections across the Atlantic and even below the equator. Gates said Leo's most acute interests were in his Haitian ancestry, the slaveholders (White and Black) in his genealogy, and his freedom-fighter forebears in New Spain and during the Latin American independence struggle.

“I really like this guy,” Gates said thereafter. “I’m a huge fan, and it’s one of the greatest honors of my life to have spent that much quality time with him.”

While Leo could be considered the first Black pope in the history of the Catholic Church—three others were North African—his brother, John Prevost, has said in recent months that their immediate family did not identify as Black. 

Shortly before his election as pope, while still serving as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, Leo himself described his grandparents as entirely foreign-born.

“I was born in the United States in Chicago. Both my parents were born in Chicago, but my grandparents were all immigrants, French and Spanish,” he said in May during an Italian-language interview on the TV news program TG1.

Thus far in his pontificate, Leo has not spoken publicly on matters of race, instead focusing on issues of Church unity, world peace, economic inequality, and the complications of artificial intelligence.

While serving as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, he was an outspoken voice on racial justice matters, including the need for Catholic participation in the United States racial reckoning of 2020.

Largely thought to be following in the vein of his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo has also expressed support for marginalized communities more broadly and in July stressed the need to “confront divisions and recognize that the greatest challenge is encountering the other.”

Allen’s new book on the Holy Father, “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century”—which includes her newly released interview—will be available in English in early 2026.

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.

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