The Pope and the ‘Like a Prayer’ star share a common ancestor born six generations ago

Pope Leo XIV is a ninth cousin to pop icon Madonna, genealogy reveals. Photo / Getty Images

Pope Leo XIV is related to the pop singer Madonna, according to research that reveals the first United States Pontiff has family ties to a string of famous names.

The Pope and the Like a Prayer star share a common ancestor who was born about six generations ago, making the pair ninth cousins.

Madonna has a history of clashes with Catholics over her use of religious imagery in her music videos and shows.

A New York Times investigation into the Pope’s family tree has discovered that Madonna is not the only celebrity who can claim to be related to him.

Pop star Justin Bieber shares the same common ancestor from the 1590s, a Canadian called Louis Boucher de Grandpré, with Madonna and the Pontiff.

That ancestor also makes the Pope a distant relative of Hilary Clinton, actress and director Angelina Jolie, former Canadian prime ministers Justin and Pierre Trudeau and On the Road novelist Jack Kerouac.

New York Times magazine worked with genealogists at American Ancestors and the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami to scrutinise the Pope’s ancestry over the past 500 years.

“Noblemen, enslaved people, freedom fighters and slaveholders are all part of the family tree of the first [US] pope,” the magazine said on social media.

“Initial findings about the Pope’s ancestry revealed that he had African American ancestors. This was earth-shattering news, but we knew it was only the beginning.”

The head of the Catholic Church had 17 African-American ancestors, according to the research, which revealed complex family connections to American slavery.

Eight of the Pope’s identified ancestors were slaveholders, with most of them being black.

His maternal fourth-great grandmother Marie Jeanne was enslaved by François Lemelle. She bore him at least six children. He freed Marie Jeanee and two daughters in 1772. When he died in 1789, he left her a fifth of his estates, including 15 slaves.