The new pope's Louisiana roots — which are reportedly being investigated by the Archdiocese of New Orleans — are just part of the Black Catholic intersection quickly taking shape in the media and elsewhere.

He chose his papal name, Leo XIV, in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who reigned in the late 19th century, pioneered in Catholic social teaching, and condemned slavery in two papal documents.

#LeoXIV #popeleo14 #Louisiana #Creole #Catholic #BlackCatholic #FamilyHistory

https://www.blackcatholicmessenger.org/black-catholics-on-pope-leo-xiv/

Okay, yeah, you all know that I don’t share any information that might identify me. Not in this America. Still, some things are more important than #privacy.So here is a nugget.
Funnily enough, we are all full blown #atheists.

Anyway, please read a #NYT #GiftArticle that includes my closest relative & friend #MarkRoudané about historic #NewOrleans, #Creole culture, #FamilyMythology & the deep weirdness of “#passing”.

#AmericanHistory #BlackHistory #history #truth #fact
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/us/creole-identity-history-pope-new-orleans.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GU8.dFiy.fR34VUAXbV5y&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

So, even this #NYTimes piece, despite using valid historical sources, gets things wrong. #Creole was never really shorthand for "Creole people of color", and this focus on skin color was really not the issue at all, as it isn't generally when talking about #race. A race is simply a group of people who have been #racialized in order to justify exploiting them.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/us/pope-leo-creole-new-orleans.html?ref=levelman.com

4) In the 20th century up to the present, South #Louisianians use #Cajun generally as a synonym for #White and #Creole generally as a synonym for #Black.

But while the revisionist history put forth in (3) did not hold for how locals define #Creoles today, it has become the prevalent misconception about what #Creole meant in the early #colonial years. Also, in the 21st century especially, there have been activists who've sought to recapture the original use of #Creole as just meaning 'local'

..

1) #Creole meant 'local' even into the 19th century (i.e., all native-born #Louisianians were #Creoles)

2) The #LouisianaPurchase and #racial tensions before and after the #CivilWar complicated the picture in the 19th century

3) Post Civil War, #Whites made concerted efforts to revise history so that Creole meant #White Louisianian of #European ancestry, and therefore collapsed former Free people of color in with former enslaved people as Black.

...

#Louisiana #Pope #LeoXIV #race

Not surprising that #PopeLeoXIV's #Creole ancestry is poorly described by the #media, even #Black media. This one got a good amount right, but importantly misunderstands that the distinction between 19th century #Creoles of color and #Blacks was that the the latter were #enslaved and the former weren't (or were no longer). As a primer, ...

#Louisiana #Pope #race #sociology #anthropology #Catholicism #Catholics #religion #US

https://www.levelman.com/is-pope-leo-xiv-black/

Descoperiți povestea surprinzătoare a rădăcinilor creole ale Papei Leon al XIV-lea, legate de New Orleans. Un capitol necunoscut din istoria Vaticanului și Louisianei. #Papa #NewOrleans #Creole #Istorie #Vatican

Детальніше: https://newsro.us/node/5780

Digging into Pope Leo XIV's #NewOrleans #Creole roots https://www.cbsnews.com/video/digging-pope-leo-xivs-new-orleans-creole-roots/ #PopeLeo #Louisiana

By Nate Tinner-Williams

"Leo XIV is not known to have publicly commented having African ancestry, which is part of a mixed heritage that also includes French, Italian and Spanish roots. According to the U.S. Census, Prevost's mother, the late Mildred Martinez, was the mixed-race daughter of Black property owners, the Haitian-born Joseph Martinez and New Orleans native Louise Baquié, a Creole."

#Pope #Creole #Heritage #HaitianCreole #Diversity

https://www.ncronline.org/news/white-smoke-black-pope-genealogist-says-leo-xiv-has-louisiana-african-roots

In honor of #Creole #PopeLeoXIV
#ZydecoAPasSale

https://youtube.com/watch?v=fa8vyTfugcI&si=sZGQUNpaNKeRjFrX

“I hate to say it, but we feel, many of us, that our history was hidden from us,” said Ms. Villavasso Cherrie, 79, a retired teacher. In part, she said, that’s because many Creoles have been able to “pass” as white over the years.
It was only w/the advent of the internet, she said, that many people began to research their family history & became aware of their #Creole roots. She noted that a significant number of #Louisiana Creoles migrated to the #Chicago area in the 20th century.
#Pope #LeoXIV

Over the decades, they established a foothold in business, the building trades and the arts, particularly music, w/significant contributions to the development of #jazz. They continue to be an important strand in the city’s famously #heterogeneous culture.

The revelation of the new #pope’s heritage is a tremendous moment for the history of #Louisiana #Creoles, said Lolita Villavasso Cherrie, a co-founder with Mr. Honora of The #Creole Genealogical & Historical Association.

#LeoXIV

#Creoles, also known as “Creole people of color,” have a history almost as old as #Louisiana. While the word #Creole can refer to people of European descent who were born in the Americas, it commonly describes mixed-race people of color.

Many Louisiana Creoles were known in the 18th & 19th centuries as “gens de couleur libres,” or free people of color. Many were well educated, French-speaking & Roman Catholic.

#Pope #LeoXIV

Joseph Martinez’s exact place of birth remains a bit of a mystery—Honora also found an 1870 Census record that says the #pope’s maternal grandfather was born in Louisiana. But he said it was not uncommon for people to change their responses on ofcl records.

Joseph Martinez & Louise Baquié married at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in #NewOrleans. Until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1915, the church bldg was on Annette Street in the city’s 7th Ward, a historic center of Afro-#Creole culture.

It’s unclear whether the new #pope has ever addressed his #Creole ancestry in public, & his brother said that the family did not identify as #Black. The announcement of his election in Rome focused on his early life in #Chicago & decades of service in #Peru.

Honora, who works at the Historic #NewOrleans Collection, a museum in the French Quarter, began investigating the pope’s background because of his French-sounding name, #prevost but quickly found connections to the South instead.

#LeoXIV

New #Pope Has #Creole Roots in #NewOrleans

His ancestry, traced to a historic enclave of Afro-Caribbean culture, links #LeoXIV to the rich & sometimes overlooked #Black #Catholic experience in #America.

Robert Francis #Prevost, the #Chicago-born cardinal selected on Thurs as the new pope, is descended from Creole people of color from New Orleans.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/us/pope-leo-creole-new-orleans.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=6B3B45C4-19FA-473D-B6BD-A937C1601A35

Had a amazing diner tonight with some good friends at Chez Lafayette Creole Brassiere in Hilltop (I think) and it was so good, will be going back next week for an catfish po' boy. 10 out of 5 recommend.

I'm a hug catfish fan and it was the best I've had in many years.

#Tacoma #ChezLafayette #Catfish #Creole