Overview

• The New York Times collaborated with American Ancestors and the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami to map the pope’s family tree.
• Researchers identified Louis Boucher de Grandpré of Quebec as a common ancestor linking Pope Leo XIV to Madonna, Justin Bieber and Angelina Jolie.
• The report found 17 African-American forebears and documented ancestors who were both slaveholders and enslaved individuals.
• Pope Leo XIV’s fourth great-grandfather, Charles Louis Boucher de Grandpré, commanded militia forces in Louisiana during the American Revolution.
• The genealogy also connects the first American pope to political figures such as Hillary Clinton and Justin Trudeau, underscoring a multifaceted cultural heritage.