‘To Pope Leo XIV’

Cloaking Pope Leo XIV’s entire workspace was his family lineage, its edges weighted down.

“Your Holiness,” declared Henry Louis Gates Jr., “your heritage extends back to your 12th-great-grandparents, who were born 500 years ago — during the papacy of Leo X.”

The Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research delved deeply into the pope’s lineage for a recent feature in The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

Gates and his partner, historian Marial Iglesias Utset, were already planning a trip to Rome. Thus, the acclaimed literary scholar and Emmy Award-winning host of PBS’s “Finding Your Roots” sought an audience with the pontiff to present a tangible version of his family tree.

“Meeting privately with the pope was one of the greatest privileges of my life,” remarked Gates, whose show received a nomination for its second Emmy this month. “We found him very witty, unmistakably intelligent, quite down-to-earth, and very welcoming. He was genuinely pleased by the work we had accomplished, which was immensely satisfying — as we hadn’t really sought his approval.”

“Meeting privately with the pope was one of the greatest privileges of my life.”

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Just hours after the new pope’s election in May, Gates received notices about the pontiff’s Black Creole New Orleans ancestry through messages from Ford Foundation President Darren Walker and former New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet, who hails from New Orleans.

The following day, the newspaper published an article discussing this background, based on research conducted by New Orleans genealogist Jari Honora, who has aided in studies for participants on “Finding Your Roots.” Subsequently, Gates was commissioned by the Times magazine to trace the pope’s lineage “from the ground up.”

For the July 5 meeting in Vatican City, Gates brought along a 4-by-5 foot printout of the papal family lineage, produced under the guidance of Boston nonprofit American Ancestors with support from the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami. Gates and Iglesias Utset, a native Cuban who was also involved in the project, spent half an hour with the pope discussing the lives of more than 100 of his ancestors, many of whom traced back to France, Spain, Italy, the United States, and Cuba.

“We formed a perfect team,” Gates recounted, noting the pope’s adeptness in Spanish after more than twenty years in the Catholic Church in Peru. “I responded to inquiries regarding his English-speaking ancestors, and Marial charmed him with details about his Spanish-speaking ancestors.”

Born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955, the pope has numerous ancestors from Spanish-speaking nations in the Americas. Iglesias Utset brought attention to a fifth cousin named Antonio José de Sucre (1795–1830), a significant ally of the 19th-century Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar.

“Sucre was instrumental in overcoming colonialism in Latin America,” Gates elaborated. “The pope was genuinely thrilled about that.”

The pope inquired about his ancestors, both Black and white, who had been enslavers. He also expressed curiosity about any Haitian lineage. Gates explained the story of one ancestor who was born to native New Orleanians that had relocated to Haiti during the Civil War. After the conflict concluded, the entire family returned to New Orleans.

Genealogists around the globe have already built upon these discoveries, expanding some branches and introducing new ones into this distinctly American family tree.

As the meeting came to a close, Gates reflected on the diverse essence of the holy lineage. “I utilized the term ‘ecumenical,’ deriving from Greek,” Gates shared. “I remarked, ‘You are indeed our ecumenical pope, and the ideal pope for this particular moment in global history.’”

Gates also gifted a polished copy of the article itself. The Bishop of Rome then posed a final request: Would Gates sign the magazine for him?

“Absolutely, your Holiness,” Gates replied. “How should I address it?”

“To Pope Leo XIV,” came the response, causing both men to erupt in laughter.