Pope Leo XlV: A Pope For All People
By Betty Jean Grant
Betty Jean Grant
Father Robert Francis Prevost, now inspired by Pope Leo XIV’s remarkable Cre ole heritage, tracing back to his grandmother, Louise Baquie, born in New Orleans, La, and his grandfather, Joseph Martinez, born in Haiti to American parents from New Orleans, and re- enforces a testament to the power of diverse, ethnic roots. The grandparents and other family members, including their two daughters, migrated to Chicago, where the family’s racial identity was recorded as White in the 1910-1912 U.S. Census Report.
When the new Pope moved to Chicago, either due to segregation, racism and abject poverty, his family was assigned as a member of the white race, or they chose the route of ‘Passing’, a route taken by so many light-skinned escaped or former enslaved Africans, once they reached the free, northern states or to Canada. I am sure there were many uneasy, young ‘white’ men and women who married into their new race and were worried about how dark their children might be.
The best thing about the elevation of FR. Robert Fran cis to Pope is he is seen as a Pope of all the people, even those who are not Catholics. He speaks five languages fluent ly, lived for over a decade in Peru and was born and raised in Ameri ca, on the south side of Chicago. Anyone who knows a little about Chicago knows that Chicago’s South side was Mecca to the mil lions upon millions of former enslaved families and share croppers who migrated north and east, after slavery, to escape the lynchings and acts of Jim Crowism that replaced the cotton sacks with a rope.
This writer is glad that Pope Leo XlV’s racial identity did not come out to the pub lic until after the Conclave of Cardinals and Bishops had made their selection. I hate to say it but there are still some people, even among the clergy, that still judge or accept a person based on racial, social or economic factors.
I believe that the fact the new Pope is a Person Of Color provided an element of surprise and delight that it seemed we all needed during these difficult times we find ourselves in.