May 6, 2026
Papal line, dead line
Pope Leo called his bank's customer service line. They hung up on him
Even the Pope got the full customer service runaround — and commenters are weirdly on the bank’s side
TLDR: Pope Leo XIV reportedly called his bank to update his details, said he was the pope, and still got hung up on before the bank finally fixed it. Commenters turned it into a hilarious fight over whether this was great security or absurd customer service gone too far.
In a plot twist that sounds made for sitcom TV, Pope Leo XIV reportedly called his Chicago bank to update his phone number and address — and got shut down anyway. According to his friend Rev. Tom McCarthy, the new pope tried the usual security questions, got told he had to show up in person, then played what most people would assume was the ultimate card: “I’m Pope Leo.” Reader, it did not work. The employee allegedly hung up on him, and the internet instantly turned this into a holy war over customer service, common sense, and whether being pope should get you special treatment.
The biggest surprise? A lot of commenters were basically cheering the bank on. “Security should never make up front exceptions,” one person argued, while another said the real issue was not the refusal, but the hang-up. That became the main split in the crowd: team rules-are-rules versus team maybe don’t disconnect on the literal pope. Some readers were more baffled than outraged, asking why a modern bank would force anyone to visit a branch just to change contact details. Others skipped straight to jokes, with one commenter asking if he tried speaking to the manager, and another brushing it off with a shrugging “So what?” energy.
By the end, the bank did make the change after pressure climbed the ladder. But the comments made one thing clear: the real miracle here is that customer service managed to treat the pope exactly like everyone else.
Key Points
- •Rev. Tom McCarthy said Pope Leo XIV called his Chicago bank last year to change his phone number and address.
- •McCarthy said the bank representative told Leo that policy required him to appear in person, even after he answered security questions.
- •According to McCarthy, Leo said he was Pope Leo, but the disclosure did not resolve the issue and the representative hung up.
- •McCarthy said Rev. Bernie Scianna later contacted the bank’s president, who initially reiterated the in-person policy.
- •McCarthy said the bank ultimately made an exception and changed the pope’s phone number; USA TODAY also said it contacted the Vatican for comment.