New Orleans roots discovered in family history of Pope Leo XIV

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Just hours after Robert Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, a New Orleans historian began tracing the roots of the Chicago-born clergyman, and found them leading straight to the city’s 7th Ward.

“Prevost, that sounds very much like a Louisiana name,” said Jari Honora, who works at the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Intrigued, Honora began combing through public databases and soon uncovered 1900 census records listing the pope’s maternal grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, living in New Orleans.

“They were identified as Black here. Their roots are primarily Louisiana as well as Haiti,” he said.

The records show the family lived on North Prieur Street, where the Claiborne Overpass now cuts through the heart of the 7th Ward. Honora also found the couple’s marriage license, documenting their wedding at Our Lady of Sacred Heart Church, once located at Claiborne and Annette streets.

According to Honora, the documents show the couple had several children in New Orleans before relocating to Chicago around 1912.

They even reveal the occupation of the pope’s grandfather.

“His occupation is that of cigar maker, which so many New Orleanians had grandfathers and great-grandfathers who were cigar makers,” he said.

Pope Leo has often credited his calling to the priesthood to his early days in Chicago, where priests frequently visited his family’s home, drawn by the aroma from his mother’s kitchen.

“Of course they loved her cooking. She came from a New Orleans family,” he said, a connection that, for Honora, reinforces just how far New Orleans’ legacy can reach.

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