The phrase "Like a Prayer" has taken on a whole new significance for Madonna, as a recent discovery has revealed a surprising family connection to the Pope. In a collaborative article between The New York Times,

Through a distant maternal ancestor, who was born in the 1590s, Pope Leo is ninth cousins, various times removed, with some well-known figures, including Pierre and Justin Trudeau, Hillary Clinton, Angelina Jolie, Justin Bieber, Jack Kerouac and Madonna.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., best known for helping people and celebrities uncover ancestral connections on his long-running PBS series “Finding Your Roots,” has made headlines again with a viral family tree revelation involving the newly elected Pope Leo XIV.