Pope Leo XIV also has Italian ancestry, similar to Pope Francis, who came from across the world. Robert Francis Prevost's grandfather was born in Italy on June 24, 1876, the feast day of St. John, the patron saint of Turin. The individual listed as John R. Prevost in a death certificate and a 1950 census could very well have been born in Italy as Giovanni Prevosto.

There are also similarities with a Giovanni Pietro Felice Prevosto from Settimo Rottaro, a small town in the province of Turin. In the early 20th century, many individuals with the "Prevosto" surname left this area. Immigration archives, like those from Ellis Island, show a substantial number of people arriving from there, where the surname Prevosto is quite common, likely originating from the ecclesiastical title "prevosto," which referred to the office of provost. 

Eventually, Giovanni, a professor of languages, emigrated from Europe to the United States, where he passed away on May 22, 1960. He married Suzanne Louise Marie Fabre, and their son, Louis Marius Prevost, was born in Chicago in 1920. Louis married Mildred Agnes Martinez in 1949, and from that union, the newly elected pope was born in Chicago in 1955. It’s another tale of migration, similar to Jorge Bergoglio’s.

This makes the new pope, Leo XIV, not only the first American pope but also the first Italian American pope.

But there's even more. This is further explained by Charles Marsala, Ambassador of We the Italians in Louisiana. "Much is being written and on TV about Pope Leo's connection to New Orleans. With some research, I found that one of his maternal great-great-grandfathers, Giacomo Martino, was born in 1806 in San Remo Italy." Charles says. "

It appears Giacomo Martino’s name became Jacques Martinez in the 1820s after he arrived in New Orleans. He married Marguerite Cadeneth and had a son, Jacques Jr. in 1823. Jacques married Marie Rosa Ramos in 1840 and had a son named Joseph in 1864. Joseph was born in Haiti. Perhaps this had something do with the War for Southern Independence. It appears the family left New Orleans during the war and returned back to New Orleans following the war. Jacques Martinez would have been 37-years old when the war started, which is an age that normally is considered eligible for being drafted or part of the European Brigade that became New Orleans auxiliary police force in 1862. However, by 1861, Jacques and Marie Rosa had six children under ten years old. For the safety of the children, they may have left America during the war. Joseph would marry Louise Baquie in 1887. They moved to Chicago where Pope Leo's mom was born and married another Italian-American. Two of Pope Leo’s aunts were nuns."

Pope Leo XIV has also been connected to a relative who lives in Italy: Carmen Cecilia Cristina Prevost Navea, born in 1961 in Peru, who has lived in San Severino Marche since 2015. She says that she shares a great-grandfather with the pope.