A Chicago bank teller once hung up on Pope Leo, the first American pope, after he called from the Vatican to update his phone number on his account, one of his good friends recounted to a parish in late April.
Father Tom McCarthy, who has known Pope Leo for over 40 years, told the story at a gathering in Illinois on Sunday, according to the Letters from Leo Substack.
After Pope Leo answered the standard security questions, the bank teller was presented with a screen that said any changes to his account would need to be made in person.
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“Would it matter to you if I told you I’m Pope Leo?” he asked, according to McCarthy, after noting that he wouldn’t be able to come in person to make the changes.
The teller then hung up on him.
A video of the story circulated on social media over the weekend, as reported by The New York Times.
McCarthy told The Times that the pope did get his number changed after a different priest was able to get in touch with the bank’s president.
“Could you imagine being known as the woman who hung up on the pope?” he said.
Letters From Leo’s Christopher Hale reported that Father Bernie Sienna was the one who connected the pope with the bank’s president, and noted the bank didn’t want to lose the pope’s account.
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“Eventually the number got changed — by calling another Augustinian. Father Bernie Sienna, McCarthy’s classmate and the then-provincial of the Chicago Province, knew the people who knew the people in Chicago banking. Word made its way up to the bank president,” he wrote. “The president cited policy. The pope’s intermediaries replied that he was prepared to move the account elsewhere. The bank did not want to lose the account of the pope. They changed the number.”
The Vatican did not immediately return a request for comment.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly planning to travel to the Vatican and Italy this week for meetings aimed at steadying relations after public spats between President Donald Trump, Pope Leo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Rubio, a Catholic, is expected to meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top diplomatic official, Reuters reported, citing Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera.
It is uncertain whether Rubio will also meet with the pope, who has been critical of the Trump administration’s peacemaking efforts in the Middle East.
Rubio and Vice President JD Vance attended Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square and held a private meeting with him the following day in May 2025.
Fox News’ Eric Mack contributed to this report.
