National Catholic Reporter: Boston Exhibit Highlights Pope Leo’s Family Tree

“‘The pope's ancestors, as late as the twentieth century, right down in New Orleans, were identified as people of color,’ said Jari C. Honora, a New Orleans-based genealogist who helped research Leo’s family tree. During the panel discussion, Honora said that Leo’s family took shape in the melting pot that was New Orleans in the centuries before the Civil War. He noted that the pope has ancestors who as recently as 1834 were recorded as being enslaved in that city.”