A frustrating conversation with customer service is nothing new. Imagine being the pope who was hung up on because a bank teller thought the call was a prank.
That is what happened to Pope Leo XIV shortly after he was elected to head the Catholic Church.
Robert Francis Prevost was attempting to change his address and phone number with a Chicago bank to his residence in the Vatican.
As his brother, John Prevost, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday’s “OutFront,” the pope told him of his need to change the information.
“I said, ‘OK, I’ll get the number, the bank, and we’ll call the bank,’” Prevost said.
Pope Leo’s friend, Rev. Tom McCarthy picked up the story at a gathering of Catholics in Naperville, Illinois.
Once on phone with the bank teller, the pope identified himself as Robert Prevost and said he had recently moved and needed to change his information.
“She said, ‘OK, what’s the bank account number?’” Prevost told Burnett. “He gave it to her. ‘What is your Social Security number?’ He gave it to her. ‘What was your formal address?’ He gave it to her. There were about four or five different questions. He gave them all to her.”
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According to McCarthy, the teller then told Pope Leo he would need to come to the Chicago bank in person to finalize the change. The pope said he could not and tried to explain why.
McCarthy’s and Prevost’s recollections differ slightly as the pope’s brother told the teller she was talking with the pontiff.
“It went on so long, I said, ‘You know, ma’am, it might be helpful for you to know you’re talking to my brother who’s in Rome right now,’” Prevost said. “‘You’re speaking with the pope.’”
In both scenarios, the teller didn’t buy it.
“She said, ‘Oh, really?’ And hung up,” Prevost said. “And that was the end of the call.”
In the end, the teller thought the call was a prank.
“Prank call, yeah,” Prevost said. “One of the provincials had to go into the bank and take care of it for him.”
And now the teller has to live knowing one thing.
“Could you imagine being known as the woman who hung up on the pope?” McCarthy said.
