People shocked after learning Pope Leo is related to 'iconic' A-list celebrity
Topics: Madonna, Music, Pope Leo, Twitter, Royal Family
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Vatican Pool
Topics: Madonna, Music, Pope Leo, Twitter, Royal Family
Pope Leo’s family tree is as shocking as it is interesting, and people are going wild for one celebrity he’s tied to.
Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost officially became the newest Pope on May 8, and chose to go by the name Pope Leo XIV as is tradition.
As the 267th to take on the role, Pope Leo has already been making waves since taking over from his predecessor Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88 in April.
In his first Sunday noon (May 11) blessing he declared to the masses below him: "Never again war."
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He called for peace in Ukraine, and a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as an agreement between India and Pakistan.
He’s also been outspoken about US President Donald Trump and has been known to be against many of his policies.
In the past, he has retweeted posts that were adamantly against Trump’s beliefs.
For example, in 2018, Pope Leo retweeted a thread from Cardinal Blase Cupich, which criticized the Trump administration's policies.
"There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages. This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all," the first post of the thread read.
So, when this new detail about Pope Leo was revealed, people were left wondering, what else is going to come out next?
Henry Louis Gates Jr has hosted PBS’s Finding Your Roots for the last 13 years, and after being hounded by fans to find out more about Pope Leo’s ancestry, he complied.
In collaboration with the genealogists at American Ancestors and the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, they went as far back as his 12th-great-grandparents, who were born in the early 1500s.
That’s when they made the discovery that Pope Francis is related to none other than a Queen.
The Queen of Pop, that is.
Yes, Pope Leo and Madonna are family, and that is a wild thought.
Through a distant maternal ancestor, who was born in the 1590s, Pope Leo is ninth cousins, various times removed, with the singer, and other celebrities.
The internet found out this slice of trivia, and they’ve not been able to figure out how to take the news.
One person on X wrote: “Wait, Pope Leo XIV is actually a distant relative of Madonna?! That’s such a wild and iconic connection , like, royalty meets pop royalty? I’m obsessed with this tea.”
Someone else said: “Papa don't preach but her distant relative does.”
Another wrote: “this is just so random, like two completely different vibes.”
A fourth asked: “how distant though? distant like they can't kiss because its weird distant? or like 10th cousin distant?”
But this is just the tip of the iceberg: Pope Leo is also related to Pierre and Justin Trudeau, Hillary Clinton, Angelina Jolie, Justin Bieber, and the famous writer, Jack Kerouac.
His lineage also includes noblemen, freedom fights, enslaved people, slaveowners who were both black and white, and more.
It’s safe to say that the more we learn about the new Pope, the more interesting he becomes.