Pope Leo XIV has multiracial ancestry, including Black heritage, according to genealogy research by Henry Louis Gates Jr. The Finding Your Roots host traced the pope’s family tree back 15 generations, revealing enslaved ancestors, slaveholders, freedom fighters, and several celebrities and high-profile public figures in his lineage.

Gates, the 74-year-old host of PBS’s Finding Your Roots, met with the pope on July 5 at the Vatican to personally present his findings. He and his wife, historian Dr. Marial Iglesias Utset, worked with a team of researchers to compile the family history, which was also featured in The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

According to People, the research shows Pope Leo XIV is distantly related to celebrities such as Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Justin Bieber, Hilary Clinton, Pierre and Justin Trudeau, and author Jack Kerouac. Their shared ancestor dates back to the 1590s on the pope’s maternal side.

Gates also confirmed that Pope Leo’s lineage includes both Black and European ancestry. Some of his ancestors were enslaved, while others were slaveholders. Two were freedom fighters.

In an Instagram post, Gates called the Vatican visit “one of the most meaningful and deeply moving moments of our lives.”

Pope Leo XIV, 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 Robert Prevost, grew up in Chicago with his parents, Louis and Mildred, and two brothers. He later served as the bishop of Chiclayo in Peru and led the Augustinian order before becoming pope. He is a dual citizen of the United States and Peru.