
Pope Leo XIV Waving.
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The Vatican described Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevos in Chicago, as the:
* first pope from the Order of Saint Augustine
* first North American pope
* the first pope born in the United States
* the first to be a citizen of both Peru and the United States (dual citizenship)
* the first named Leo since Leo XIII (1878-1903)
Is he also the first Black pope?
Although the Vatican did not include this information, the pope's mother was the daughter of the Haitian-born, mixed-race landowner, Joseph Martinez and the New Orleans-born Louise Baquiet (also Baquiex) a mixed-race Black Creole.
Another first! At least in modern times, since there are popes from antiquity whose full backgrounds are unknown.
During the his first Mass after becoming pope, he said the Church would act as a "beacon that illuminates the dark nights of this world".