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'Oh really?': Bank worker hangs up on Pope after thinking call was a prank

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Thu, 14 May 2026, 8:51pm

'Oh really?': Bank worker hangs up on Pope after thinking call was a prank

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Thu, 14 May 2026, 8:51pm

Pope Leo XIV was reportedly hung up on by a customer service representative at his bank after she believed his call was a prank.

Roughly two months into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV called his hometown bank in Chicago while he was in Rome with the help of his brother, John Prevost, who told the story on CNN show OutFront last week.

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, the first American to head the Catholic Church, needed to update his phone number attached to his bank account, John Prevost recalled.

John Prevost called the bank and talked to the teller for a moment before transferring the call to his brother.

Pope Leo XIV told the teller he wanted to change his phone number because he had moved to Rome and no longer lived in Peru where he had worked for decades.

The teller then asked him security questions, like his bank account number, social security number and former address.

“It went on so long, I said to her, ‘You know ma’am, it might be helpful for you to know you’re talking to my brother who’s in Rome right now. You’re speaking with the Pope’,” he told CNN.

“And she said, ‘Oh really?’ And hung up. And that was the end of the call.”

John Prevost didn’t release who the bank was but said they had to organise a local person to go into the bank in person and change the number.

The Pope’s friend, Reverend Tom McCarthy, also joked about the incident in a recent speech.

“Could you imagine being known as the woman who hung up on the Pope?” McCarthy said.

President Donald Trump and Pope Leo are once again engaged in a tense exchange of words over the Iran conflict. Photo / Getty Images
President Donald Trump and Pope Leo are once again engaged in a tense exchange of words over the Iran conflict. Photo / Getty Images

It’s not the only trouble the Pope has had stateside.

The American-born pontiff has been making headlines for butting heads with the White House over the war in Iran.

Earlier this week, Trump accused the Pope of “endangering the lives of a lot of Catholics” because of his stance on the Iran conflict, the Independent reported.

In reply, the Pope said, “The Church’s mission is to share the gospel and to promote peace.”

Even Vice-President JD Vance, a Catholic himself, has effectively told the Pope to stay out of politics.

“It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic church and let the President of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News.

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