Pope Leo XIV has scads of famous cousins — including Madonna, Justin Bieber and more

From Holy See to Hollywood.
A noted historian dug into Pope Leo XIV's family tree, discovering it includes a who's who of A-list celebrities, political figures and even a famous novelist.
Harry Louis Gates Jr., longtime host of PBS' 'Finding Your Roots,' a docuseries that explores the ancestry of noteworthy people, recently collaborated with genealogists at the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami and American Ancestors and traced the new pontiff's family history back to the 1500s, making some unexpected discoveries.
3 Pope Leo XIV became the first American pontiff on May 8.
AP
For starters, Leo XIV comes from a strikingly diverse background, with ancestors born all around the world, from France, Italy, Spain and the US to Cuba, Canada, Haiti and Guadeloupe, an archipelago nation in the eastern Caribbean.
The pope also has at least 17 black relatives, including his grandfather, Joseph Nerval Martínez, who was born in Haiti. Leo XIV also had a dozen ancestors who were slaveholders, eight of whom were black.
Pope Leo XIV's ascent to the papacy was historical significance partly due to him being the first pontiff to hail from North America, and his ancestry includes a number of household names from the continent.
He's ninth cousins — many times removed — with superstars including Madonna, Justin Bieber and Angelina Jolie, as well as Hillary Clinton and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
3 Pop icon Madonna is one of Pope Leo XIV's famous cousins.
AFP via Getty Images
Rounding out his roster of famous cousins is 'On the Road' author Jack Kerouac.
Pope Leo XIV, 70, became pontiff May 9 after just two days and four rounds of voting by the College of Cardinals at the Vatican.
3 Pope Leo XIV is ninth cousins, many times removed, with singer Justin Bieber.
GC Images
He is the 267th pope in the history of the Roman Catholic church, and follows Pope Francis, 88, who died April 21 after battling respiratory illness culminating in a stroke and heart failure.

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