In today’s most divine display of “it’s a small, small world,” genealogists have unearthed a family tie so unexpected it’s practically a miracle: pop icon Madonna and the newly minted Pope Leo XIV are ninth cousins, various times removed.
The revelation, unveiled by Henry Louis Gates Jr. in the New York Times, traces their shared lineage back to Louis Boucher de Grandpré, a 1590s Trois-Rivières settler.
Suddenly, church pews might be filled with stunned fans wondering if “Like a Prayer” doubles as a family reunion anthem.
“Through one Canadian ancestor,” Gates wrote, “Louis Boucher de Grandpre… the pope is related to numerous Canadian-derived distant cousins, including Pierre and Justin Trudeau, Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, Justin Bieber, Jack Kerouac, and Madonna.”
Cue the celestial record scratch. "Brrrrrriippp"
On one heavenly hand, you have the “Material Girl” provocateur; on the other, the pontiff who just took the keys to St. Peter’s Basilica in May 2025.
Make no mistake: this is "Awkwaaaard!"
Madonna’s 1989 “Like a Prayer” video famously featured dancing in front of burning crosses and an animated wax saint—elements that prompted Pope John Paul II to denounce it as “a blasphemy and insult” to the church.
The controversy even cost Madonna a $5 million Pepsi endorsement… though the soda giant couldn’t resist revisiting the partnership in 2023, releasing the long-lost commercial and crowning her “an artist refusing to compromise her artistic integrity.”
Her Instagram declared, “Artists are here to disturb the peace.”
Fast-forward three and a half decades, and family reunions now require two very different RSVPs.
Will the Vatican send its finest linen napkins?
Will Madonna request karaoke and a smoke machine? Tabloid priests are sharpening their quills.
Inside sources at the PBS show Finding Your Roots reveal that genealogist Gates Jr. spent weeks navigating Ontario archives, Quebec church records. (and probably Madonna’s fourth-grade report cards).
“We had to decipher seventeen variations of the surname ‘Boucher’—including ‘Butch-her,’” Gates quipped off-camera.
Meanwhile, backstage at Madonna’s London concert, dancers paused choreography when word of the papal connection broke. One backup singer was overheard asking, “Do I genuflect or vogue?”
Even Entertainment Tonight’s old guard felt the tremor.
Former producer Lu Murray recalled the original “Like a Prayer” debut drama: “I remember snatching the video and running into an edit bay… and I went, ‘Uh oh. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to air this.’”
They ultimately trimmed the burning crosses from the broadcast—only to have MTV run the full gospel truth.
Now, as Pope Leo XIV presides over the Holy See, the Vatican communications office is reportedly drafting a memo titled “How to Address Your Pop Princess Cousin Without Causing a Papal Scandal.” LOL!
Opinions are divided: some suggest a firm handshake and a quiet prayer; others advocate for a surprise remix of “Like a Prayer” featuring hip Gregorian chants.
After all, what better way to bridge millennia than through message of melody?
The bottom line: faith and fame are colliding in familial fashion, and the world is tuning into the show!
As the family tree’s branches twist toward both Sistine ceilings and neon-lit stages, one thing’s for sure—this reunion could get really awkward.
But then again, with Madonna and the pope in the same lineage, perhaps it’s exactly the moment the world needs to rethink tradition… or at least its playlist.
Life is a mystery.
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