12 May 2025
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was selected to be the new pontiff of the Catholic Church on Thursday, May 8, making him the first North American selected to head the Catholic Church. Prevost has chosen to take the papal name of Leo XIV, and will be formally installed as pontiff on May 18 at his inaugural public mass at St. Peter’s Square.
Local genealogist and historian Jari Honora of the Historic New Orleans Collection posted on Facebook that he had tracked the Chicago-born pope’s roots to New Orleans’ 7th Ward. He included photos of official documents proving his statement.
“Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has Creole of color roots from New Orleans on his mother’s side!” Honora wrote on Facebook. “They left New Orleans and went to Chicago between 1910 and 1912. His grandparents were married in 1887 at Our Lady of Sacred Heart on Annette Street. In 1900, his grandparents owned and lived at 1933 North Prieur Street, a site taken by the Claiborne overpass.”
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, shared his excitement over the pope’s local connection in a press release.
“As a Black man, a proud son of New Orleans, and a U.S. Congressman honored to represent Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District – which includes the very 7th Ward neighborhood where our newly selected Pope’s family once lived – I am overwhelmed with joy and pride at this historic moment,” Carter said in his press release.
Other local leaders also expressed excitement at Pope Leo’s election.
“Congrats and prayers for Pope Leo XIV. What an exciting new leader for the Catholic Church,” wrote Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on X (formerly Twitter).
“Congratulations to our first American Pope, Pope Leo XIV!” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry wrote on X. “This is a historic day. May his leadership be guided by faith, wisdom, and a deep commitment to the service of the Church.”
The Pew Research Center estimated 23 percent of Louisianians identify as Catholics. The Archdiocese of New Orleans estimated as of 2023 that approximately 505,000 people in the area identified as Catholic.
The 69-year-old Prevost will be the Catholic Church’s 267th pope. He studied mathematics and philosophy at Villanova University before graduating in 1977. He was ordained as a priest in 1981 in the Augustinian order and moved to Peru three years later. He served ten years as a parish pastor and teacher in Trujillo in northwestern Peru, among other assignments in the country.
Pope Francis named Prevost the Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru shortly after he became pope. Prevost became an archbishop in 2023, then a cardinal in 2024. At the time of his election, he was serving as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, meaning he evaluated and recommended candidates for bishop positions around the world.
Pope Leo XIV’s election was a relatively quick one. The conclave lasted only two days, which was brief by previous standards.
The Rev. John Lydon, a former roommate of Prevost’s, told the BBC that Prevost was “down to Earth” and “very concerned for the poor.”
Pope Leo XIV made his first speech as pope in Spanish and Italian from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, greeting the assembled crowd with “Peace be with you all!”
“Help us, too, and help each other to to build bridges, with dialogue, with meetings, uniting us all to be one people, always in peace,” said Pope Leo XIV.
This article originally published in the May 12, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.