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.

The election of Pope Leo XIV, who is the first U.S. pope and has Creole roots, is raising more awareness about the complexity of the Creole identity.

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.