It appears that Like a Prayer has taken on a whole new meaning for Madonna.
A recent interactive article in The New York Times, written by Henry Louis Gates Jr. in collaboration with American Ancestors and the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, revealed the genealogy of Pope Leo XIV from both his mother’s and father’s sides. Building on research by New Orleans genealogist Jari C.
Honora, the article also disclosed that the Pope had recent Black ancestors, with Jari being the first to uncover the Pope’s Creole roots.
The renowned pop star, along with several other famous individuals, is connected to the Pope through one of his Canadian ancestors, Louis Boucher de Grandpre, who was born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. This connection links the Pope to various “Canadian-derived distant cousins,” including Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, Justin Bieber, Jack Kerouac, and Pierre and Justin Trudeau.
Upon learning of her familial connection to the Pope, Madonna responded with delight. On Monday, June 16, she posted an X/Twitter screenshot of the news, followed by a black-and-white photo of herself and her father, Silvio Ciccone, reacting to the news on her Instagram Stories, reports the Mirror US.
The photo, captioned “Silvio, We’re related to the Pope! Strike a pose!”, shows Silvio seated in a chair and Madonna posing with her hands raised. Madonna’s relationship with Catholicism predates her connection to Pope Leo.
Raised as a Catholic, she adopted Veronica as her confirmation name and has since “cultivated” her “spiritual practices.”
Over the years, she has embraced various religions including Kabbalah, Judaism, and Sufism. However, Catholicism has remained a constant in her life, influencing her music career through the use of Catholic iconography.
She is credited with popularising the cross as a decorative item in pop music.
Throughout her career, the 66 year old has faced accusations of blasphemy, sacrilege, and iconoclasm for her use and depiction of Catholic imagery. Her 1989 song ‘Like A Prayer’, which featured burning crosses and erotic displays of Jesus, drew criticism from the Vatican.
Pope John Paul II even called for a boycott of her Blond Ambition tour.
In 2023, Madonna challenged the Catholic Church in her Vanity Fair cover shoot where she posed as the Virgin Mary and incorporated other religious symbols throughout the issue, such as the 12 apostles. Reflecting on the Vatican’s reaction to ‘Like a Prayer’ and the calls to boycott her tour, she expressed her surprise at being attacked by the Church, stating that they failed to understand how her work was “shocked to see myself being attacked by the Church, because they weren’t able to understand how much my work was trying to produce something good.”
In 2015, she reached out to Pope Francis via Twitter, stating, “I’m a good Catholic. I swear! I mean I don’t Swear! Its been a few decades since my last confession. Would it be possible to meet up one day to discuss some important matters?”I’ve been excommunicated three times. It doesn’t seem fair. Sincerely, Madonna.”
On 8 May, American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was chosen as the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church following a conclave. The 69 year old cardinal is now known as Pope Leo and is the first American Pope.
Pope Leo took over from Pope Francis after his death on 21 April at the age of 88. His cause of death was due to a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and heart failure.
Pope Leo was born on 14 Sept. 1955, to Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Martínez in Chicago.
He grew up in South Suburban Dolton (a town outside of Chicago) with his two brothers, Louis and John. His late mother and father were a librarian involved in parish life and a school superintendent.
His father was of French and Italian heritage, while his mother was of Spanish descent. After discovering Creole ancestry on their father’s side, Pope Leo’s brother told the NYT that he and his brothers didn’t discuss their Creole roots and that it “was never an issue.”