If you thought the Vatican was all incense and Latin hymns, think again. The newly elected Pope Leo XIV might soon be getting fan mail from football enthusiasts as well as the faithful. Thanks to a deep dive into his family tree, we now know that His Holiness shares a distant connection with none other than Eric Cantona, the iconic French footballer turned philosopher of the pitch.
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Now, Pope Leo XIV—known in his earlier life as Robert Francis Prevost—is American by birth, but his roots stretch firmly across the Atlantic. The genealogy platform Geneanet traced his ancestry back through a web of notable French personalities, revealing a surprisingly star-studded lineage.
A thread of French greatness
Digging into the Pope’s maternal line brought up some illustrious names from French cultural and military history. The most closely related among them? Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, a prominent general during World War II and a national hero of the French Resistance. He was posthumously made a Marshal of France—one of the highest honours in the nation’s military tradition. His link to Leo XIV? Just seven to eight generations removed.
And the connections don’t stop there. Through his grandmother Louise Bacquié’s Marseille roots, Leo XIV finds himself tied—albeit distantly—to a range of prominent figures from southern France. Among them is Edmond Rostand, the literary mind behind Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as filmmaker and writer Nadine Trintignant. There’s even a generational link to Albert Camus, the Nobel Prize-winning philosopher and author of The Stranger.
So when we say the Pope has an intellectual pedigree, we’re not being metaphorical.
A footballer among philosophers
But the real curveball? Eric Cantona. Yes, the man who once karate-kicked a fan and later reflected on it like a Zen master during a seagull-and-trawler metaphor-laced press conference. Between the 12th and 15th generations, Pope Leo XIV and Cantona share common ancestors—making this perhaps the first time the worlds of Premier League football and papal succession have collided in the family archives.
It’s hard not to smile at the thought. A pope who walks in the footsteps of saints, thinkers and… strikers. Between Cantona’s brooding charisma and Camus’ existential musings, Leo XIV can certainly claim a few philosophical heavyweights in the family line-up.
The Church, the pitch and a dash of poetry
While none of this ancestry grants special insight into papal policy or theological direction, it does give the public a fresh lens through which to view their new spiritual leader. A man connected to both spiritual tradition and cultural flair, who carries in his DNA the echoes of warriors, writers, and athletes.
So next time you see Pope Leo XIV addressing the crowd in St Peter’s Square, remember: somewhere in his distant family history, there’s a man in a red football shirt and upturned collar, staring down a goalkeeper with the calm intensity of a philosopher-king.
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