In an editorial on 13 May 2025, Diario Libre executive editor Anibal de Castro focuses on the reality that the DR is a mixed race and ancestry country.
The editorialist writes:
“The election of Leo XIV as Supreme Pontiff has brought about more than just a name change at the Vatican summit. It has brought to the surface a history that many would prefer to ignore: the multiple, complex, and in this case, mestizo origins of the new leader of the Catholic Church.
The fact that the Pope has Dominican blood and Afro-descendant Creole heritage and that one of his grandfathers was classified as “black” in 19th-century America, should not cause much surprise.
But it does: unfortunately, we continue to drag along a cultural discomfort —a visceral resistance— to accept that the Dominican, the Catholic, and the universal can simultaneously be black, mestizo, Creole, and proudly diverse.
The case of Leo XIV confirms that origins do not hinder destiny unless we decide to deny them or be ashamed of them.
The Dominican Republic is mulatto by statistics, by history, and by vocation. We are a nation woven with African, European, and Taino threads, and the attempt to uniform our identity under a single race, creed, or language is a symbolic mutilation that impoverishes everyone.
Stigmatizing someone’s color, last name, accent, or faith is a subtle—and dangerous—form of hate. And hate, even when disguised as defense of the homeland or order, is always contrary to the faith we claim to profess.
Pope Leo XIV, grandson of a Dominican tobacco worker and heir to a black, Catholic family from New Orleans, perhaps also Haitian, embodies that mixture that irritates purists and gives hope to those who believe in mixed ancestry and race as a plus.
May his story serve as a reminder of who we are—without shame or fear.”
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
14 May 2025