Pope Leo received an official copy of his family tree, which includes his ties to "free people of color" in New Orleans.

When Henry Louis Gates Jr. set out to trace the family tree of America's first pope, he had no idea he was about to uncover ...

But beyond the celeb connections, Gates’ research uncovered something far more powerful: Pope Leo XIV is of mixed Black and ...

Pope Leo XIV got a special visit from Finding Your Roots writer, host and executive producer Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr ., to ...

From Holy See to Hollywood. A noted historian dug into Pope Leo XIV‘s family tree, discovering it includes a who’s who of A-list celebrities, political figures and even a famous novelist.

According to family history sleuths and ancestry experts, they all share something far more unexpected than Grammys and red carpets, though: They’re reportedly distant relatives of Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo's ancestry puts a spotlight on Black Catholics Honora’s discovery put a spotlight on Black Catholics, said Father Stephen Thorne, a consultant with the National Black Catholic Congress.