Census records for Leo's maternal grandparents hint at the complexity of Creole identity and of Black identity in America.

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, has been confirmed to have African American ancestry through Creole roots.

This is like a reward from God,” a local parishioner said, as researchers unearthed more details about the lives of Leo XIV’s ancestors in the heart of the city’s Afro-Caribbean culture.