Pope Leo XIV Faces Online Criticism After Video Shows Him Apparently Turning Away From Black Priest

Pope Leo XIV faces criticism over footage from Metz, France, while a longer video reportedly offers context for his apparent turn from a Black priest Edgar Beltrán/WikiMedia Commons Online viewers have accused Pope Leo XIV of racial bias over footage from a visit to Saint-Étienne Cathedral in Metz, France, in September, where he appears to turn away before greeting a Black priest in a receiving line.

The criticism followed circulation of a short clip in which Leo shakes hands along a line of clergy and attendees before suddenly changing direction. However, French broadcaster TF1 reported that a longer recording appears to show an official redirecting him towards French dignitaries, including President Emmanuel Macron.

Some viewers interpreted the moment as a deliberate refusal to acknowledge the clergyman because of his race. The shorter recording does not show what prompted the pope to turn away at that point or what was happening immediately beforehand.

One commenter wrote, ‘Can’t imagine claiming to believe in any form of religion and still operate in hate — people are unwell.’

Another posted, ‘People who don’t even see you as humans will never show you the way to their paradise.’ Other responses invoked the history of slavery, widening the criticism beyond the individual encounter.

The pope’s ancestry also entered the discussion, with a supporter invoking his family background to dispute the accusation. Others focused on whether the viral clip had omitted an interruption immediately before he changed direction.

‘A video is circulating on X that looks like Pope Leo XIV refused to shake a Black priest’s hand and walked away,’ a social media user who described watching the longer recording wrote on X.

The user later stated that Leo had greeted other Black people earlier in the line and that an assistant appeared to alert him to a French official’s presence.

‘I think he was interrupted and he was talking,’ another commenter wrote.

A viewer who stressed their own lack of support for Leo also rejected the allegation. ‘I don’t even f–k with this pope! But this is clearly a reach he was clearly distracted at that very moment, as u can see.’

The reaction also drew on Leo’s remarks during the visit. In Metz, he called on Europe to promote equality regardless of ‘race, color, class or profession’ and encouraged greater respect for migrants.

During Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral, he stated that Europe’s future ‘does not lie in uniformity, but in the harmony of differences.’ The wording was translated by Türkiye Today.

Critics compared that message of inclusion with their interpretation of the greeting line. The longer recording, as described by TF1, includes Diego Ravelli, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, approaching Leo shortly before the pope changes direction.

Ravelli appears to direct him towards the French officials. That reported sequence offers additional context for the movement captured in the shorter clip, without establishing what the pope was thinking at the time.

Separately, historical records examined by ABC News identified Leo’s maternal grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, as Black or ‘mulatto’. They lived in New Orleans before moving to Chicago, while records concerning Martinez connect his family to Louisiana and Haiti.

Genealogist Chris Smothers told the broadcaster, ‘It’s clear that the Pope has centuries-long ties to free people of color in Louisiana.’ Census records from 1900 identified both grandparents and two of their daughters as Black while they lived in New Orleans.

Those records have resurfaced amid the online controversy. Neither the Vatican nor the pope had publicly responded to the accusations at the time of the report.