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S u n d ay, M ay 11, 2025
A POPE WITH CREOLE ROOTS
New Orleans heritage of Catholic Church’s new world leader sparks excitement, intrigue, pride BY RICH COLLINS and STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writers
When Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié and their two young daughters lived at 1933 N. Prieur St. in 1900, New Orleans was the queen city of the South, with new electric streetcars and state-of-the-art infrastructure. The streets of their 7th Ward neighborhood just downriver of the French Quarter were lined with shotgun doubles occupied by working- and middle-class families who were, predominantly, Creoles of ä Pope color — longtime locals of lays out mixed French, African and vision of Caribbean ancestry with deep ties to the Roman Catho- papacy. PAGE 7A lic Church. The world was on the cusp of a new era, reshaping society, religion and global alliances. And the leader of that church was a pope named Leo XIII, who is remembered today for gracefully ushering Catholics into the modern age. Now, 125 years later, the Martinezes’ grandson, Robert Francis Prevost, has become Pope Leo XIV — the first American Pope and the first with Creole ancestry. Little is known about what Joseph Martinez, a cigar maker born in Haiti, and his wife Louise, a homemaker and lifelong New Orleanian whose mother was
ä See ROOTS, page 4A
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Landry joins Legislature in paring back tax breaks State gives away $1 in tax breaks for every $2 collected
BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer For years and years, state lawmakers have given away tax deductions, exemptions and exclusions to special interests. And for years and years, experts have called on lawmakers to eliminate many of these tax breaks and use the savings to lower tax rates. The state gave away $1 in exemptions for every $2 it collected in fiscal year 2023, the latest figures show. Legislators and the administration of Gov. Jeff Landry began to address that issue during a special session in November devoted to taxes. Lawmakers lowered individual and corporate tax rates — but Landry raised the sales tax — and voted to end numerous corporate tax subsidies. Instead of doling out money automatically through the tax code, Susan Bourgeois, who heads the state’s economic development agency, wants more money and authority for her agency to award incentives as sweeteners to companies planning to invest in Louisiana. Still, old habits die hard. A number of legislators are seeking to win approval for new tax breaks or expand existing ones, claiming that the incentives will create new jobs and investment. State Rep. Les Farnum rarely buys that
ä See TAX BREAKS, page 3A
PROVIDED PHOTO
STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Jari Honora, family historian at The Historic New Orleans Collection, displays genealogy materials related to the grandparents of Pope Leo XIV in New Orleans on Friday. TOP: Newly elected Pope Leo XIV concelebrates Mass Friday in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican the day after his election as 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
The grandparents of Pope Leo XIV, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, married at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans. Until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1915, the church building was on Annette Street in the city’s 7th Ward, a historic center of Afro-Creole culture.
Balancing life as mom, first responder Women tell stories about obstacles and rewards
BY JA’KORI MADISON | Staff writer Motherhood is widely recognized as a full-time role that requires significant effort and responsibility, and most mothers admit they put their children first. But for moms who are also first responders, other kids are front of mind when they’re on the job. Often, it’s a hopeful kid who stands in a doorway watching his mom being taken away and wonder-
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ing if she’ll be OK. eryday obstacles and the rewards First responders dedicate that come with their job. their lives to protecting others Taking a leap of faith on an opand serving their community, portunity to be in law enforcewhich is a sacrifice that is not ment, Carencro native Rachel theirs alone. They face high Journet has served her commustress situations, long hours nity for more than a decade. and heavy demands. For firstJournet started her career at responder moms, though, they Journet the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s say the biggest challenge is Office in 2012 and now works for learning to balance those challenges with the Lafayette Police Department. A year the welfare of the kids they have to leave later, her oldest son was born. Learning at home. to navigate life as a law enforcer and a These Lafayette moms, who are also ä See STORIES, page 10A first responders, tell their stories of ev-
Foster children numbers hit record highs in Louisiana Some parishes have zero homes to place them
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD | Staff writer On a Tuesday afternoon in Watson, Rebecca Braun was working her shift at a donation center when she received a call from the state Department of Children and Family Services: A 14-yearold girl needed a place to stay for the night. Braun, who currently fosters seven children at her Livingston Parish home, can’t bring herself to say no. The Louisiana woman has fostered nearly 100 children — from teenagers to a newborn baby she picked up from a Walmart. The parish consistently has some of the highest numbers of children entering foster care in the state. At one point this year, it had more than 220 foster children but only 21 certified foster homes. Braun’s is one of them. The shortage is widespread across the state. West Feliciana and Pointe Coupee parishes, where children are entering foster care in growing numbers, currently have zero foster homes available. “You can’t turn a blind eye once you see what’s out here, and you know that there’s not enough people out here willing to do it with you … you just
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................2B Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
ä See NUMBERS, page 3A
100TH yEAR, NO. 315