The ancestry of Pope Leo XIV has been traced across more than 15 generations and four continents, encompassing African American, French, Spanish, Sicilian and Cuban roots. According to a report published by The New York Times Magazine on 11 June 2025, his maternal grandparents from New Orleans’ Seventh Ward were described in early 20th-century records as “black,” “mulatto” and “free persons of colour.” His family tree includes enslaved individuals, slaveholders, Spanish hidalgos, French Canadian settlers and Sicilian immigrants. Genealogists have also confirmed that he is distantly related to a number of public figures, including Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, Justin Trudeau, Madonna, Justin Bieber and Jack Kerouac.