It's not a practical joke or another crevice of the internet which seems to have found itself a bout of meme virality.
It's as factual as it gets. Pope Leo XIV, who commenced his papacy on May 8 this year, is in fact a distant relative of none other than THE pop icon across ages, Madonna.
How?
As per a tracing project orchestrated by The New York Times, the Pope's lineage reveals him having had relatives in Italy, Spain and France, some of whom later relocated to Quebec in the 1650s. Louis Boucher de Grandpre in this regard, was one of his distant Canadian relatives. The Madonna connection seems to have revealed itself from this link.
The puns and throwback references were endless of course: "Like a Prayer!", "Pope and Pop artist", "Reconciliation appointment or exorcism?? 😂", "papa does indeed preach", "they look like twins!", "Pope dont preach" and "Madonna - Like a Prayer ft Leo XIV" to quote a few.
But things don't just stop here with the superstar Pope. Pope Leo, also happens to be related to Justin Bieber — and Angelina Jolie, and Hillary Clinton and Justin Trudeau! And these revelations are all a result of the Pope's lineage being traced.
But coming back to the Pope and Madonna being related, the OG Material Girl actually has some significant history when it comes to the Pope. About three years back, she had publicly asked Pope Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, to meet with her in lieu of discussing the three excommunications she had received from the Church. Her 'plea', shared in May 2022, read, "Hello @Pontifex Francis —I’m a good Catholic. I Swear!. I mean I don’t Swear! Its been a few decades since my last confession. Would it be possible to meet up one day to discuss some important matters ? I’ve been ex communicated 3 times. It doesn’t seem fair. Sincerely Madonna".
{{/usCountry}}But coming back to the Pope and Madonna being related, the OG Material Girl actually has some significant history when it comes to the Pope. About three years back, she had publicly asked Pope Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, to meet with her in lieu of discussing the three excommunications she had received from the Church. Her 'plea', shared in May 2022, read, "Hello @Pontifex Francis —I’m a good Catholic. I Swear!. I mean I don’t Swear! Its been a few decades since my last confession. Would it be possible to meet up one day to discuss some important matters ? I’ve been ex communicated 3 times. It doesn’t seem fair. Sincerely Madonna".
{{/usCountry}}Well, Pope Leo may just end up delivering Madonna from evil, given their kinship!