SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
In a historic moment for the Catholic Church, Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago has been elected pope, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. He becomes the first pontiff from North America and, according to genealogical research, the first with African-Creole ancestry.
The announcement came Thursday evening as white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling a successful conclave on only the second day of voting. Tens of thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers as the 69-year-old Augustinian stepped onto the papal balcony to deliver his first public blessing.
“Thank you to my brother cardinals who chose me to be the successor of Peter,” he said in a bilingual Italian and Spanish address. “Let us walk together as a united Church, always open to dialogue, to charity, and to building bridges.”
A Deep Heritage and a Global Perspective
Though born and raised in Chicago, Pope Leo XIV’s roots extend beyond the Midwest. Louisiana genealogist Jari Honora traced the pope’s maternal lineage to the Creole community of New Orleans. His late mother, Mildred Martinez, was the daughter of Haitian-born Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, a Creole native of New Orleans.
According to U.S. Census records, the Martinez family was a Black property owner who migrated north in the early 20th century. Though Pope Leo XIV has not publicly commented on his racial identity, his ancestry marks a significant milestone. “He could be considered the first Black pope in the Church’s history,” Honora told Black Catholic Messenger, “though identity is about more than ancestry—it’s also shaped by lived experience.”
Leo XIV is also a member of the Augustinian order, named for St. Augustine of Hippo—one of the most prominent African theologians in Church history.
A Life of Service Across Continents
Ordained in 1982, Prevost earned a doctorate in canon law from the Angelicum in Rome before serving for more than a decade as a missionary priest and seminary rector in Peru. He later returned to the United States to lead the Augustinians in Chicago, before being elected to lead the order worldwide—a position that brought him back to Rome.
In 2015, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. By 2023, he had risen to become the Vatican’s top official overseeing the appointment of bishops around the world.
While some saw an American pope as an unlikely outcome, especially amid speculation of a return to Italian leadership, the conclave’s decision signals a broader shift in the global Church. Observers say Leo XIV is expected to carry forward the social justice legacy of Pope Francis, including advocacy for the poor, synodality, and Church transparency.
A Name with Significance
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope chose the name Leo XIV in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who is remembered for his groundbreaking 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum on workers’ rights and economic justice.
In his inaugural address, the new pope cited his predecessor Francis’s final Easter blessing and promised to lead the Church forward without fear.
“God loves us—all of us,” he said. “Evil will not prevail. United, hand in hand with God and one another, we will go forward.”