Pope Leo’s Family History Reveals Immigrant Roots and a Message of Dignity for Migrants
Pope Leo XIV: A Legacy of Immigration
Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead the Roman Catholic church, has a family history that reflects the US’s complex relationship with immigration. Recent genealogical research by Ancestry has revealed that Leo’s paternal grandfather, John R. Prevost, immigrated from northeastern Sicily.
A Journey from Sicily to Chicago
Salvatore Giovanni Gaetano Riggitano, as Prevost was originally named, arrived in New York in 1903 on the steamship Perugia. He was part of a wave of roughly 4 million Italians, mostly Sicilians, who sought a better life in the US between 1880 and 1915, fleeing poverty and political turmoil. Prevost eventually anglicized his name and took his wife’s surname, Suzanne Prevost. He lived in Chicago with his family and taught Italian, French, and Spanish.
A Family Shaped by Migration
The research also sheds light on Leo’s maternal ancestry. His maternal grandparents, the Martinezes, were of mixed race and identified as Black in the early 20th century. Facing racial oppression in the South, they moved to Chicago around 1920, a time when many families like theirs chose to switch their racial identification to white.
A Call for Dignity
In his first address to world diplomats, Leo emphasized the importance of respecting the dignity of migrants. This message resonated with some who saw it as a potential challenge to the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies.
Looking Ahead
Betit, the genealogist who uncovered Leo’s family history, noted the parallels between his grandfather’s journey and the pope’s own. It’s a story of migration, transformation, and ultimately, a return to Italy as a leader of the global Catholic Church.
