Ancestry Discovers Pope Leo XIV’s Sicilian Roots

We were unable to locate many records in the United States before 1950 for John Prevost, outside of some city directories. A prominent clue was that John Prevost’s death certificate stated that he was a citizen of Italy – indicating that he never naturalized as a United States citizen. Through the National Archives Flexoline Database, we located an Alien Registration record, under the name John R. Prevost, born 1876 in Italy, residing in Chicago in 1940. Alien Registration began in 1940 for anyone who was a foreign national and had not naturalized as a United States citizen.

According to the Alien Registration, dated 24 September 1940, John Riggitano Prevost arrived in the United States at New York in May 1905 on the SS Perugia. Surprisingly, John gave his name on his alien registration at arrival as Salvatore Giovanni Riggitano Alioto (Giovanni is the Italian equivalent of the English name John). His birthplace was listed as Milazzo, Province of Messina, Italy, and he was born on 24 June 1876 – an exact match to the date of birth listed on John R. Prevost’s death certificate.

The address on the Alien Registration—5465 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois—also matches the address on the 1950 census (did you remember this clue?) and the address on the World War II Draft Card for Pope Leo XIV’s father, Louis Marius Prevost.

The Scholarship of Giovanni Riggitano

Early records in the United States indicate that Giovanni Riggitano (also known as John R. Prevost) was a highly educated teacher of languages. His resume included mentions of schools in Florence and other respected cities, as mentioned in many local newspaper articles and advertisements for his language classes and, later, a language school.

John/Giovanni would later take the surname “Prevost” which was the maiden name of his wife’s (Suzanne) mother, Jeanne Eugenie Prevost. He actually arrived in New York City in 1903, not 1905 as he indicated on the Alien Registration. It was not uncommon for information regarding arrivals to be incorrect, as this information was not verified by Immigration officials. John’s original first name, Salvatore, was listed on line 9 of the 1903 New York Passenger List for the SS Perugia, where his last place of residence was listed as “Milazzo.”

The Respected Riggitano Family

Pope Leo XIV’s paternal ancestral home, the municipality of Milazzo, is in the province of Messina, and presently, it is a popular tourist destination. It is a seaport on the Northeast coast of Sicily and has a celebrated history, including General Giuseppe Garibaldi’s arrival in 1860, with the famous “Battle of Milazzo” fought there for the unification of Italy under a single government, which was gradually achieved throughout the peninsula of Italy and Sicily.

In Milazzo, we located John R. Prevost’s original birth record under the name Salvatore Giovanni Gaetano Riggitano, born 24 June 1876. He was born to Santi Riggitano, age 50, and Maria Alioto. He was the youngest child of Santi and Maria. Santi and Maria had at least eight children born after their marriage in 1853. The surname Alioto was not recorded as part of his legal name on his birth record, as indicated on the Alien Registration document. It is not known why he used his mother’s surname, but having that information allowed us further confirmation that we located the correct individual. 

The occupations for Pope Leo XIV great-grandfather, Santi Riggitano, and his great-great-grandfather, Giuseppe Riggitano, are consistently recorded on records throughout their lives. They were both Usciere comunale, a position that oversaw the antechamber of a public office, with the task of announcing and introducing visitors and giving information to the public. The position required some literacy, and both Santi and Giovanni are noted on records as having been literate. Their signatures both appear on records in Milazzo. It is likely that Santi inherited this position from his father. 

The Hard-working Alioto Family

Giovanni’s mother’s side of the family also has strong Sicilian roots. Records for the family of Maria Alioto indicated that her parents, Francesco Alioto and Vittoria Trusiano Alioto, were each listed as a trafficante, a merchant or trader. However, Vittoria’s father Giacomo Trusiano - the great-great-great-grandfather of Pope Leo XIV - was a Bottaro – a barrel maker, indicating that Vittoria’s marriage to Francesco may have increased Vittoria’s social standing. In comparison, Vittoria’s mother, Rosa Tomasello, at the time of her death in 1858, was listed as a faticatrice, or “hardworking woman.”

Sicily, ruled by the House of Bourbon from 1734 to 1860, had an extremely rigid class structure. As a result, social mobility was limited. The majority of Pope Leo XIV’s Sicilian ancestors in Milazzo were of lower-middle-class to middle-class status. While the records for many of his ancestors use the Italian honorific title of “Don” or “Donna,” the practice of using such titles did not indicate that the family was of any noble background, but the term commonly became used with those who were respected within the community.

Reuniting With His Roots

While Pope Leo XIV makes history as the first Chicago-born Pontiff, his Sicilian heritage represents a fascinating dimension of his family history story. As Robert Prevost assumes his role as the 267th Bishop of Rome, he embodies the legacy of his Italian ancestors and of his grandfather, Giovanni Riggitano—carrying forward a lineage distinguished by scholarship, hard work, and respect. 

 Research by

-Kelly Barbano-Bodami
-Kyle J. Betit
-Lisa Elzey