This is like a reward from God,” a local parishioner said, as researchers unearthed more details about the lives of Leo XIV’s ancestors in the heart of the city’s Afro-Caribbean culture.

When Father Tony Ricard watched the new pope deliver his first address to the faithful Thursday in St. Peter’s Square, he felt an instant kinship.

As a historically Catholic city, New Orleans was always going to celebrate the new pope. Zoom in: But once news broke that Pope Leo XIV has roots in New Orleans as a "Creole of color," the celebration leveled up considerably.