Like A Virgin, Like A Pope! Madonna And The Pope Are Related!
Is the Queen of Pop related to the head of the Catholic Church? Turns out, yes.
File this under unexpected family reunions. According to research by Henry Louis Gates Jr., host of Finding Your Roots, Madonna and Pope Leo XIV share more than a few headlines—they share blood.
Pope Leo XIV is a distant relative of Madonna. (Via New York Times). pic.twitter.com/1YoTzbvCxt
— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) June 16, 2025
Speaking with The New York Times, Gates revealed that the Like A Prayer singer and the newly appointed Pope are “ninth cousins, various times removed,” linked through a shared maternal ancestor born in the 1590s.
A Canadian Connection and a Star-Studded Family Tree
Their family tie traces back to Louis Boucher de Grandpré, a 17th-century figure from Quebec. Through him, the Pope is also distantly related to an eyebrow-raising roster: Pierre and Justin Trudeau, Hillary Clinton, Angelina Jolie, Justin Bieber, Jack Kerouac, and, of course, Madonna herself.
For pop culture lovers and churchgoers alike, this crossover moment is peak “only in 2025.” Gates’ research, though, isn’t just a quirky celebrity connection. It offers a look into the global roots of the new Pope, who was born Robert Francis Prevost in the United States.
Who Is Pope Leo XIV?
Leo XIV is the first American-born Pope, but his ancestry reads like a world map. According to Gates, his lineage includes ancestors from France, Italy, Spain, Cuba, Canada, Haiti, Guadeloupe, and the US. He even has 17 Black American ancestors and a direct family member who fought in the Revolutionary War.
I miss Pope Francis,
— Catholic American Socialist (@ThatRedCatholic) June 17, 2025
But my God, I love Pope Leo XIV pic.twitter.com/6N5nhD3dze
One ancestor, Charles Louis Boucher de Grandpré, led the Louisiana militia in 1777, taking on British forces. Another, Antonio José de Sucre, Leo’s fifth cousin five times removed, helped liberate Latin America from Spanish rule during the Battle of Ayacucho.
The Madonna-Catholic Church Tension Isn’t New
Madonna’s brush with the Church has always been complicated. Her 1989 Like A Prayer video, infamous for its religious symbolism and interracial kiss, was publicly condemned by Catholic leaders and labelled blasphemous.
So now that she’s technically family, should we expect a Vatican invite?
Probably not. But if a Holiday remix drops in St. Peter’s Square, don’t act surprised.
