Ancestry Discovers Pope Leo XIV’s Sicilian Roots

Ancestry Discovers Pope Leo XIV’s Sicilian Roots

Kelly Barbano-Bodami - Research Manager, Ancestry ProGenealogists | Kyle J. Betit - Sr. Genealogist, Ancestry ProGenealogists | Lisa Elzey - Sr. Story Producer, Ancestry

15 May 2025

Key Takeaways

• Pope Leo XIV’s paternal line traces to Milazzo, Sicily, where his grandfather was born Salvatore Giovanni Gaetano Riggitano.
• An Alien Registration record revealed his grandfather’s original name, birthplace, and that he never naturalized as a U.S. citizen.
• His Sicilian ancestors were lower-middle to middle-class, holding respected community positions like `Usciere comunale` and `trafficante` (merchant).

As the white smoke cleared and a new Pontiff emerged, questions about his family history echoed across the globe. Where did his ancestors walk? What stories shaped his lineage? Now, through meticulous research, Ancestry has uncovered compelling documents that trace the paternal line of Robert Prevost, now known to the world as Pope Leo XIV.

 
Finding the True Origins of the Pope’s Grandfather, John R. Prevost

With the announcement of the first-ever United States-born Pope, professional genealogists at Ancestry began the search that included a path of twists and turns, unexpected name changes, and, ultimately, the answers. We started with the 1950 United States Census, the most recent census record collection available and identified John R. Prevost, the grandfather of Pope Leo XIV, listed as a “Romance Language Teacher” in Chicago, Illinois, living at 5465 Ellis Ave., (remember this clue) with his wife, Suzanne L. Prevost, and his son, John C. Prevost.

1950 United States Federal Census - John R. Prevost

We were unable to locate many records in the United States before 1950 for John Prevost, outside of some city directories. A prominent clue was that John Prevost’s death certificate stated that he was a citizen of Italy – indicating that he never naturalized as a United States citizen. Through the National Archives Flexoline Database, we located an Alien Registration record, under the name John R. Prevost, born 1876 in Italy, residing in Chicago in 1940. Alien Registration began in 1940 for anyone who was a foreign national and had not naturalized as a United States citizen.

According to the Alien Registration, dated 24 September 1940, John Riggitano Prevost arrived in the United States at New York in May 1905 on the SS Perugia. Surprisingly, John gave his name on his alien registration at arrival as Salvatore Giovanni Riggitano Alioto (Giovanni is the Italian equivalent of the English name John). His birthplace was listed as Milazzo, Province of Messina, Italy, and he was born on 24 June 1876 – an exact match to the date of birth listed on John R. Prevost’s death certificate.

Alien Registration Form (AR-2) for John Riggitano Prevost; National Archives

The address on the Alien Registration—5465 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois—also matches the address on the 1950 census (did you remember this clue?) and the address on the World War II Draft Card for Pope Leo XIV’s father, Louis Marius Prevost.

United States World War II Draft Registration Card - Louis M. Prevost

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The Ecumenical Celebration within the Week of prayer for Christian unity

“Faith in the Lord Jesus unites us and creates more and more relationships of friendship and brotherhood”

It was the Adventist Christian Church of Palermo on via Gioacchino Di Marzo that hosted on Tuesday 21st of January the Ecumenical Celebration within the Week of prayer for Christian unity that this year has the theme of the verse (11,26) of the Gospel of John "Do you believe this? ”.

“We are gathered here in the joy of being able to find each other again, to confess together what seduces and passions our hearts, the Lord Jesus – said the Archbishop of Palermo Mons. Corrado Lorefice - to whom we belong. Faith is a context of a relationship and chapter 11 of the Gospel of St. John has remnants of an amazing tenderness, a tenderness entrusted in terms of friendship, of love that binds Jesus to his brothers and sisters; the context of faith sends us back to a brotherly relationship, of friendship and love. Our meeting here tonight, all together, helps us confess that, do you think this? as an element of faith that accompanies us and that causes more and more relationships of friendship and brotherhood to erupt because the God that we have met is the one who has only one vision, that of a brotherhood that inhabits the earth as a fertile garden with its center the tree of life. God thought of us as brothers, as the community of Bethany. From today’s meeting you can smell the fragrance of friendship that collapses throughout the common house, today more than ever there is an attempt of hostility, to raise walls, to make the war rational”.

The initiative, coordinated by the Pastoral Office for Ecumenism and the Interfaith Dialogue directed by Fr Piero Magro, saw the participation of representatives of the Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Seventh-day Adventist Christian Church, Evangelical Church of Reconciliation, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Evangelical and Methodist Churches, Inter Pentecostal Pilgrim Community national, Eparchy of Plane of Albanians, Patriarchate of Russia Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Orthodox Patriarchate of Romania. 

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Priest who called Pope Francis an ‘antipope’ excommunicated

By Associated Press

November 15, 2018 | 2:01am

Pope Francis

Getty Images

ROME — An Italian Catholic priest who considers Pope Francis an antipope and claims to have supernatural communications with angels, saints and the Madonna has been excommunicated.

The archdiocese of Monreale, Sicily said the Rev. Alessandro Minutella was informed Tuesday of his excommunication for spreading “heresy and schism.”

Monreale Archbishop Michele Pennisi issued a public notice in 2015 warning the faithful that they risked “grave danger to their souls” by listening to Minutella.

Pennisi said the priest was suspected of manipulating parishioners with his prophesies and “seriously posed a risk to the genuine popular devotion to the Madonna, angels and saints.”

Minutella has described his preaching as the “true” Catholic doctrine and anyone who followed Francis as a heretic. The priest especially cited the pope’s opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion.

Source

Flood, Mudslides hit Messina, Dead and Injured

ANSAmed) - ROME - The death toll of the storm that has hit Messina and the north-eastern part of Sicily has risen to thirteen. According to the mayor of Messina, Giuseppe Buzzanca, around 20 people are still missing. Rivers of water and mud are complicating rescue operations, most of which have to be carried out from sea. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano is in Matera, from where he has contacted the prefect of Messina, Franco Alecci, for news on the situation. The cabinet has declared a state of emergency to deal with the situation which head of Civil Protection, Guido Bertolaso, defined as ''very serious'' and ''critical''. Several houses have collapsed due to landslides in the areas that were hit hardest: Scaletta Zanclea, Santo Stefano Briga, and most of all Giampilieri, 20 km south of Messina, where several buildings were swept away by a landslide. Rescue teams are digging in the mud for survivors. The bodies of six victims have been found in Giampilieri and Scaletta. One of them was found in a car that had been swept away by a stream of water. A ship of the harbour office has move around 50 people, of whom several are injured, from the coast of Messina to the city. Around 15 injured have so far been admitted to the hospital of Messina. Two of them suffered burns when a gas cylinder exploded due to the landslide that has hit Scaletta. Some inhabitants of the areas that have been hit have been rescued by the helicopter team of Civil Protection. Many people have fled to the roofs of their houses to escape the torrent of water and mud. The army, fire brigades and Civil Protection are active in the area.(ANSAmed).

Source:http://www.ansamed.info/en/top/ME12.WAM50193.html