A Catholic mother of 10 and grandmother of 30 was honored by New Orleans’ Archbishop Gregory Aymond during a special vigil Mass on May 12.

New Orleans' 7th Ward neighborhood has long been recognized as a cultural stronghold for people of African, French, Spanish and Native American descent.

“Robert Prevost was a missionary bishop who gave himself fully to his people and who played an important role in the church of his new country, Peru. In fact, he became a Peruvian citizen,” Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, who studied in Chicago, said in an interview Friday.

Gibson, pastor of St. Peter Claver, a Catholic Church in the 7th Ward neighborhood where the grandparents of Pope Leo XIV lived, speaks with The Associated Press inside the Church in New Orleans, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Marc Morial ...

His ancestry, traced to a historic enclave of Afro-Caribbean culture, links Leo XIV to the rich and sometimes overlooked Black Catholic experience in America.

Everyone is the pope’s cousin,” Father Gibson said. “I hope he gets to meet all of his new cousins.” On Thursday, Cardinal Robert Prevost stepped onto the balcony of St

The new Pope’s French-sounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, who began digging in the archives and discovered the Pope had deep roots in the city. All

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A special noontime Mass at St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter drew a crowd Thursday as local Catholics gathered to honor the Roman Catholic Church’s new pope, Leo XIV.