When Robert Francis Prevost ascended to the papacy as Pope Leo XIV, he inherited the spiritual care of 1.4 billion Catholics, keys to the Apostolic Palace, and apparently, a banking snafu his papal authority could not resolve.
Like you and me, his holiness has bank accounts. He’s probably got a debit card.
Two months into his pontificate, Pope Leo did what any reasonable person would do after a major life change: he called his bank back home to update his contact information. He identified himself calmly as Robert Prevost, answered every security question correctly, and explained that he needed to change his phone number and address on file.
Straightforward enough.
But the customer service rep informed him that none of that mattered. He needed to visit the branch in person.
“‘Well, I’m not going to be able to do that,” the pope replied. He tried a different approach. “Would it matter to you if I told you I’m Pope Leo?”
She hung up on him.
Bank security conditions defy even divine intervention. Or so it would seem.
This funny story comes courtesy of Father Tom McCarthy, a prominent South Side Chicago figure and leader at St. Rita of Cascia High School, who has known Prevost since the 1980s. On April 29, McCarthy shared the anecdote with a men’s club at a Naperville parish, Saints Peter and Paul.
The tale, of course, found its way onto TikTok this past Sunday.
Another Chicago priest, Father Bernie Sciana, made some calls, McCarthy said. He knew a guy who knew a guy, apparently. Eventually, someone got to the bank president who figured out it would be a very good idea not to lose the pope as a customer.
The customer service rep who terminated the call remains, mercifully, anonymous.
McCarthy’s recounting captures something deeper than a frustrating bureaucratic comedy. The tale illustrates a pope who remains, by every visible measure, an extraordinarily ordinary man.
Prevost rose from modest working-class roots in the south suburb of Dolton. He spent 22 of his 43 years as a priest in the slums of northern Peru. He’s the first American to become pope. His brother recently revealed that the papal closet contains stockpiles of marshmallow Peeps and Fannie May chocolates. When Minnesota Twins fans shouted “White Sox” from the crowd during a papal appearance, he swiveled and shouted back.
Together, these small moments remind us that a man who is very much not like us is actually still a little bit like us.
Just a guy named Bob who couldn’t get through to customer service.