May 6, 2026, 1:18 p.m. ET
Dealing with customer service can be a cross to bear, even for the pope.
Pope Leo XIV ran into trouble when he called his bank's customer service line last year, his longtime friend the Rev. Tom McCarthy said at an April 29 event in Illinois.
Two months into his papacy last year, the pontiff called his bank in Chicago to change his phone number and address, McCarthy said.
After Leo, who was born Robert Prevost, answered a series of security questions, the customer service representative offered him a seemingly straightforward solution.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. It says here you have to come in person," the woman said, per McCarthy.
But after pleading with the representative to no avail, Leo had one last card to pull.
"Would it matter to you if I told you I'm Pope Leo?" he said.
That didn't work, either.
"She hung up on him," McCarthy said. "Could you imagine being known as the woman who hung up on the Pope?"
USA TODAY reached out to the Vatican for comment.
After Leo's initial ill-fated phone call to his bank, he turned to a fellow Augustinian priest, the Rev. Bernie Scianna, for help, McCarthy said.
Scianna then somehow connected with the bank's president, who reiterated that its policy requires in-person changes. The response was simple, McCarthy said.
"Well, then the pope is going to move his account to a different bank."
In the end, the bank made an exception.
"They finally changed his phone number," McCarthy said. "And then he said, 'And don't give the phone number out.'"
McCarthy, also an Augustinian priest, said he has known Leo for 43 years.
"He likes pizza. He likes Peeps. He likes the White Sox. You know, he likes things that we like," McCarthy said.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.