Rooted in Faith: Pope Leo XIV's Louisiana Lineage

The Office of Archives and Records has installed a new exhibit at the Old Ursuline Convent Museum in the French Quarter, titled "Rooted in Faith: Pope Leo XIV's Louisiana Lineage." This installation features a comprehensive family tree that highlights Pope Leo's Catholic connections to New Orleans through his maternal ancestors. Although both Pope Leo and his mother, Mildred Agnes Martinez, were born in Chicago, Mildred's family has deep roots in the Crescent City, with generations having been born and raised here.

“Discovering the baptismal record of Pope Leo's great-grandmother was one of the most extraordinary finds of my career,” said archdiocesan archivist Katie Beeman who is director of the Office of Archives and Records. 

“His great-grandmother, Eugenie Baquie, was baptized in 1840 at St. Louis Cathedral. Learning that she was baptized in the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States is just the beginning of her family's deep connection to New Orleans,” continued Beeman. 

“We have traced Pope Leo's family lineage back to the 1750s, with many of the sacraments occurring at St. Louis Cathedral.”

The Office of Archives and Records holds sacramental records of baptisms, marriages, funerals, and burials dating back over 300 years. With nearly 3,500 sacramental record books, the archdiocesan staff has dedicated hundreds of hours to researching the lineage of Pope Leo XIV. 

During this meticulous research, the archives team discovered many of Pope Leo's Louisiana ancestors, with the oldest record dated 1728, at a time when the budding French colony was just a small settlement along the Mississippi River. 

While various news outlets have traced the Pope's lineage back to Europe, the Archives Office concentrated on exploring the extensive local Catholic records in our holdings to share his family's story. The family tree includes more than fifty of Mildred's ancestors, with nearly every individual linked to at least one sacramental record connecting them to New Orleans or Louisiana.

Among these ancestors, nineteen were identified as free people of color in the sacramental records, indicating a mixed African and European heritage. Notably, three of these ancestors, Jeannette Glapion, Marie-Louise, and Marie Burette, were born enslaved in the 18th century. 

Scans of all the sacramental records used as source material for the family tree will soon be available for viewing through an online exhibit hosted on the Archives' website at https://nolacatholic.org.

While various news outlets have traced the Pope's lineage back to Europe, the Archives Office concentrated on exploring the extensive local Catholic records in our holdings to share his family's story. The family tree includes more than fifty of Mildred's ancestors, with nearly every individual linked to at least one sacramental record connecting them to New Orleans or Louisiana.

Among these ancestors, nineteen were identified as free people of color in the sacramental records, indicating a mixed African and European heritage. Notably, three of these ancestors, Jeannette Glapion, Marie-Louise, and Marie Burette, were born enslaved in the 18th century. 

Scans of all the sacramental records used as