Papa Leon called the bank for small changes to his account. What happened after he told an employee who he was
A customer service representative at an American bank hung up Pope Leo XIV's phone after he called, told him he was the Sovereign Pontiff and wanted to make changes to his account data, reports The New York Times, citing American priest Tom McCarthy, who has been close to the Pope for many years.
According to McCarthy, the conversation took place about two months after Chicago native Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
The new pope identified himself as Robert Prevost and said he wanted to change the phone number and address the bank had on file, Father McCarthy said.
The Sovereign Pontiff answered all the security questions correctly, but the bank employee told him that this was not enough and that he had to come to the branch in person.
“He said, 'Well, I'm not going to be able to do that. I've answered all your security questions,'” McCarthy recounted the Pope's reaction in a clip shared on social media.
According to the priest, Pope Leon then tried another approach.
“Would it matter if I told you I was Pope Leo?” the Sovereign Pontiff asked, according to McCarthy's account.
Then the woman hung up on him.
Papa Leon comes from a modest family in Dolton, Illinois, a small suburb near Chicago. Before he was elected pope almost a year ago, he was a bishop in Peru and held an important position in the Vatican.
Father McCarthy confirmed in an email that the bank story is true. He recounted the episode when he spoke to a group of Catholics about his friendship with Pope Leo at an educational meeting for men and boys held at a Naperville church.
The situation at the bank was later resolved with the help of another Augustinian priest, Bernie Scianna, who contacted the president of the financial institution.
Scianna managed to get in touch with the bank's president, who again told him that the institution's rules state that changes can only be made in person. The answer was simple, McCarthy said: “Then the pope will move his account to another bank,” according to USA Today.
Finally, the bank made an exception.
