Turns out the Queen of Pop might need to start sending out Christmas cards to the Vatican. Madonna, the eternal rebel with a rosary, is distantly related to Pope Leo XIV, according to a recent heritage deep-dive. Yes, that Madonna—the same one who made the Church sweat with her burning crosses and racy saintly fantasies—is now officially ninth cousins (multiple times removed) with the new Pope.
The genealogical revelation, dug up through an investigation into the Pope’s diverse lineage, connected him to a surprising lineup of celebrity relatives: Angelina Jolie, Justin Bieber, Hillary Clinton, and yes, Madge herself. The link? A maternal ancestor from 1590s Canada. The material girl responded in peak Madonna fashion—by posting a glam photo of herself and her father with the caption: “Strike a pose.”
From excommunication to family reunion?
Madonna and the Catholic Church have had more drama than a telenovela. Who can forget the Vatican’s outrage over “Like A Prayer” in 1989? Pope John Paul II at the time practically begged believers to boycott her Blond Ambition Tour. Madonna, never one to back down, has kept a sharp tongue for the Church ever since. In 2023, she channeled the Virgin Mary on a magazine cover and accused the Church of hypocrisy, saying, “They weren’t able to understand how much my work was trying to produce something good.”
She even joked in 2015 about wanting a meeting with Pope Francis, claiming, “I’m a good Catholic. I swear!” after being “excommunicated three times.” Now that she’s technically part of the papal fam, maybe it’s time for an invite to the next Vatican brunch?
The LGBTQ twist in the holy family tree
While this story reads like a divine sitcom, there’s an undercurrent worth noting. Madonna has long been a champion of LGBTQ rights, boldly centering queer culture in her work when most pop stars were still dancing around the issue. From voguing to AIDS activism, she made space for queer people in the mainstream. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has a fraught history with LGBTQ folks—and Pope Leo XIV hasn’t strayed far from the party line, recently reaffirming that marriage is “between a man and a woman.”
For LGBTQ Catholics and queer fans of Madonna, the family tree bombshell is rich in irony. It doesn’t undo centuries of exclusion, but it sure does highlight the complicated, sometimes absurd intersections between religion, celebrity, and identity. If nothing else, it gives queer believers a delicious slice of cosmic camp to chew on.
So, is Madonna lighting a prayer candle or just laughing from her NYC penthouse? One thing’s for sure—this holy kinship is peak pop culture irony, and we are living for it.