Pope Leo XIV Hung Up On During Bank Call From Vatican

Even the Pope gets hung up on by customer service sometimes.

Robert Francis Prevost became Pope Leo XIV exactly one year ago, which meant getting used to a new name, a new home at the Vatican, and a new phone number. A few months into his papacy, he tried to update those details with his Chicago bank over the phone.

According to Father Tom McCarthy, a close friend of the pope, things didn't go smoothly. Leo answered all the security questions correctly but was told he'd need to visit the branch in person.

"And he said, 'Well, that's not … I'm not going to be able to do that,'" Father McCarthy recalled during a Catholic gathering last month. After some back and forth, Leo tried to explain his unique situation.

"Would it matter to you if I said I'm Pope Leo?" he asked. The customer service representative hung up on him.

Father McCarthy's story went viral on TikTok, with one video racking up nearly 500,000 views in a week. The New York Times confirmed the tale was true, and the issue was eventually resolved when another Chicago priest helped escalate the matter to the bank's president.

Sunny's Take

What makes this story so delightful is how utterly human it is. Here's someone who leads 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, yet he still has to navigate automated phone menus and security questions like the rest of us.

The internet has embraced Leo's down to earth personality in other ways too. This week, a documentary trailer about his first year as pope sparked buzz online, not for its spiritual insights but because viewers spotted him wearing Nike sneakers in one photo.

Leo has never hidden his regular guy roots. He grew up on the outskirts of southern Chicago and remains a devoted White Sox fan. Just a month after becoming pope, he wore a White Sox cap in public and even appeared via video on the team's jumbotron screen during a mass at their home stadium.

The bank call mishap and sneaker sightings might seem trivial, but they reveal something refreshing. In an age when leaders often feel distant and curated, Leo's willingness to be authentically himself resonates far beyond Catholic circles.

Sometimes the most inspiring thing a leader can do is remind us they're human too.