Chicago Bank Teller Hangs Up on Pope Leo After Vatican Call to Update Account

A Chicago bank teller hung up on Pope Leo, the first American pope, after he called from the Vatican to update his phone number on his account. Father Tom McCarthy, a friend who has known the pope for over 40 years, recounted the story at a parish gathering in Illinois on Sunday.

McCarthy shared the anecdote at the late April event, according to the Letters from Leo Substack. Pope Leo answered the standard security questions, but the teller's screen showed that account changes required an in-person visit.

"Would it matter to you if I told you I’m Pope Leo?" he asked the teller, McCarthy said. He explained he could not come in person. The teller hung up.

A video of McCarthy telling the story spread on social media over the weekend, as The New York Times reported. McCarthy told the Times that the pope eventually updated his number after another priest contacted the bank's president.

"Could you imagine being known as the woman who hung up on the pope?" McCarthy said.

Christopher Hale of Letters from Leo reported that Father Bernie Sienna, McCarthy’s classmate and then-provincial of the Chicago Province, made the connection. Sienna knew people in Chicago banking, and word reached the bank president.

The president cited policy at first. The pope’s intermediaries said he would move the account elsewhere. The bank changed the number to keep Pope Leo's business.

The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to visit Italy and the Vatican this week for meetings to steady relations after public disputes between President Donald Trump, Pope Leo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Rubio, a Catholic, will meet Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top diplomat, Reuters reported, citing La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera. It is unclear if he will see the pope, who has criticized the Trump administration's Middle East peacemaking efforts.

Rubio and Vice President JD Vance attended Pope Leo's inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square and met him privately the next day in May 2025.