Tom McCarthy Tells How Bank Representative Hangs Up Pope

Father Tom McCarthy said a bank representative hangs up pope Leo after he called his South Chicago bank to change his banking information about two months after moving overseas. Robert Prevost identified himself on the call, asked whether it would matter that he was Pope Leo, and was told to go in person instead.

Tom McCarthy in Naperville

McCarthy, the Rev. of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville, Illinois, recounted the call and the hang-up. He said the conversation became memorable because the caller was not a prankster but the pope himself, trying to handle a routine banking task after moving to the Vatican.

Robert Prevost's call

During the call, Prevost told the bank associate his name was Robert Prevost. McCarthy said the associate responded that he would have to appear in person, and the call ended there. Prevost then asked, "Would it matter to you if I told you I'm Pope Leo?"

The bank president's friend

The problem was eventually fixed through a friend of the bank's president. McCarthy used the story to ask, "Could you imagine being known as the woman who hung up on the pope?" The account leaves the unusual detail intact: the phone call ended before the bank accepted who was on the line, then the matter was resolved outside the original exchange.