Robert Francis Prevost, the Cardinal born in Chicago selected on Thursday as a new Pope, descends from the New Orleans color Creolo di Color people.
The maternal grandparents of the Pope, both described as blacks or mules in various historical records, lived in the seventh department of the city, a traditionally Catholic area and a melting pot of people with African, Caribbean and European roots.
The grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Zaquié, eventually moved to Chicago at the beginning of the twentieth century and had a daughter: Mildred Martinez, the Pope's mother.
The discovery means that Leo XIV, as the Pope will be known, is not only the breaking ground like the first pontiff born in the United States. It also comes from a family that reflects the many threads that make up the complicated and rich fabric of American history.
The pope's background was discovered on Thursday by a genealogist of New Orleans, Jari C. Honora, and confirmed to the Pope's New York Times, John Prevost, 71, who lives on the outskirts of Chicago.
“This discovery is only a further reminder of how intertwined as Americans,” Honora said in a text message at the end of Thursday. “I hope it will highlight 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 whether the new Pope has ever addressed Creola and his brother to public in public said that the family did not identify himself as black. The announcement of his election to Rome focused on his first life in Chicago and decades of service in Peru.
Mr. Honora, who works in the historic New Orleans collection, a museum in the French neighborhood, began to investigate the background of the Pope because of his name with a French sound, Prevost, but quickly found connections in the South.
His trail of tests that connects Leo to New Orleans includes the grandparents' wedding certificate from their seventh wedding in 1887, a photo of the Marcinez family marker in Chicago and an electronic birth record by Mildred Martinez showing that he was born in Chicago in 1912.
The birth record lists Joseph Martinez and “Louis Baquiex” as Mildred's parents. Father's birthplace is listed as the Dominican Republic; The mother, New Orleans.
Mr. Honora also found record of the 1900 census that list Mr. Martinez as “black”, his birthplace as “Hayti” and his occupation as “Maker Cigar”. The details of Mr. Martinez appear on the sixth line of a page of the census that Mr. Honora shared with the Times.
“Both Joseph Norval Martinez and Louise Zaquié were people of color, without a doubt,” Honora said.
The exact place of birth of Joseph Martinez remains a bit of a mystery: Mr. Honora also found a census record of 1870 which says that the pope's maternal grandfather was born in Louisiana. But he said it was not uncommon for people to change their answers on official records.
Joseph Martinez and Louise Zaquié got married to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of New Orleans. Until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1915, the Church building was in Annette Street in the seventh city department, a historic center of Afro-Crele culture.
Creoli, also known as “Creole peoples of color”, have an almost old history like Louisiana. While the word Creolo can refer to people of European origin who were born in the Americas, it commonly describes people of mixed breed.
Many Louisiana Creoli were known in the 18th and 19th centuries as “Gens de Couleur Libres” or free -colored people. Many were well educated, of French and Roman Catholic language.
Over the decades, they have set up a point of support in activity, construction activities and the arts, in particular music, with significant contributions to the development of jazz. They continue to be an important thread in the famous culture of the heterogeneous city.
The revelation of the heritage of the new Pope is a huge moment for the history of Louisiana Creoli, said Lolita Villavasso Cherie, co-founder of Mr. Honora of the Creole Genealogical and Histical Association.
“I hate saying it, but we believe, many of us, that our story was hidden by us,” said Mrs. Villavasso Cherrie, 79 years old, retired teacher. In part, he said, this because many Creoli have been able to “pass” as white over the years.
It was only with the advent of the internet, he said, that many people began to seek their family history and realized their Creole roots. He observed that a significant number of Louisiana Creoli emigrated to the Chicago area in the 20th century.
John Prevost, the Pope's brother, said that their paternal grandparents were from France and that his father was born in the United States. He said that he and his brothers did not discuss their roots.
“It has never been a problem,” said John Prevost.
What this means, when it comes to the racial identity of the Pope, touches some of the most thorny questions of American society, but also reflects the rich diversity of American experience.
“We are all only a few degrees (or not of a few degrees) removed from each other,” said Honora, the genealogist.
Julie Bosman Relationships contributed by Chicago. Susan C. Beachy Research contribution.