Community Chat

[shoesnbags]

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@JaneMarple wrote:

From Google:

 The newly elected Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, has connections to Haiti and New Orleans, with Creole and Black ancestry. His maternal grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquie, were married in New Orleans and had Haitian roots. Prevost's mother, Mildred Martinez, was born in Chicago but her parents were from New Orleans and had ties to both Haitian and Creole communities. 

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This is correct.  It was on our local TV in NOLA as early as the 5 o'clock news.  An expert from the HIstoric New Orleans Collection had already researched and found the local connection.  He had marriage and birth certificates, etc.  Pope Leo's grandfather was listed as Haitian, which made them people of color. They lived in a historically Creole part of town, the Seventh Ward.  Six daughters were born before they moved to Chicago, where Pope Leo's mother were born.  The family then identified as white.  This was an extremely common scenario in those days. Needless to say, folks here are excited to know that we have a connection to the new pope, too.

[stevieb]

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@JaneMarple wrote:

I'm already in love with the new Pope and I'm not even not Catholic. May God bless Pope Leo XIV for a long tenure as the leader of the Catholic Church.

I understand that he is of mixed race, which is awesome, an excellent nod to the world's future.

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Sort of a shallow reason to decide one loves him, isn't it, especially coming from one who frequently implies others are racially motivated in their opinions...

[Marp]

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@stevieb wrote:

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@JaneMarple wrote:

I'm already in love with the new Pope and I'm not even not Catholic. May God bless Pope Leo XIV for a long tenure as the leader of the Catholic Church.

I understand that he is of mixed race, which is awesome, an excellent nod to the world's future.

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Sort of a shallow reason to decide one loves him, isn't it, especially coming from one who frequently implies others are racially motivated in their opinions...

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@stevieb,  please explain where you see any inference that @JaneMarple's love of Pope Leo XIV is due to a racial aspect.

I see enthusiasm for the new Pope followed by an aside.

[beach-mom]

@shoesnbags - Thanks to you and @JaneMarple for the explanation! When I talked to DS last night I told him how the priests liked to eat at their house because of his mother's cooking. DS said he thought she was from NOLA; I had heard she was Spanish. I assumed that might be why then-Father Bob was drawn to Peru. Now I know more.

It's amazing how many connections to NOLA I have learned about!  

[shoesnbags]

@beach-mom

If you go to WDSU dot com (our NBC affiliate) you will see the entire story if you scroll down on the left.  Or just type Pope Leo into the search box and this is one of the stories that will come up.  Turns out his great grandmother was baptised at St. Louis Cathedral.  Small world!

My son and DIL in Chicago told me that the pope was born in a hospital just 8 or 9 blocks from where they live.  And they're big Sox fans, so they're excited that he's a Sox fan, too.

[just bee]

Now that's funny. 

[just bee]

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[just bee]