Vatican City鈥檚 been a popular spot for Illinois dignitaries since Chicago native Robert Prevost ascended to the papacy last year.
Leaders from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to lawmakers to Gov. JB Pritzker have come bearing gifts for Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV 鈥� a Chicago-brewed , city-sourced , an Illini , Chicago White Sox gear and more.
Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs鈥� gift, however, was possibly the most on brand. He delivered the pontiff a certificate to reclaim $8.65 of his own money, a sum the successor of St. Peter had held in a now-closed PayPal account.
The money had been sitting in Illinois鈥� unclaimed property account, and Frerichs 鈥� the account鈥檚 administrator 鈥� has been trying to return it.
鈥淲e found this money after he became pope,鈥� Frerichs told Capitol News Illinois in a phone call Thursday morning while still in Italy. 鈥淲e reached out to the local archdiocese trying to get him to claim it, and it fell through the cracks.鈥�
Plan B? 鈥淲ell, let鈥檚 deliver it in person,鈥� he said.
That opportunity came to fruition on Wednesday.
He was invited to accompany a delegation organized by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and he and his wife Erica decided to make it a personal trip. He was raised Lutheran, she鈥檚 Catholic.
They paid for the trip personally, he said, using no campaign or state funds.
鈥淢y wife and I came together and made it a bit of a longer trip,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I figured when I had the opportunity to meet the pope, you would take it.鈥�
He also gifted the pontiff a commemorative Abraham Lincoln coin from a leftover supply the treasurer鈥檚 office had minted years ago, and a book about Chicago history. Erica Frerichs brought some of her family鈥檚 rosaries for the pope to bless.
As for the $8.65, Frerichs acknowledged that it鈥檚 garnered good press. It鈥檚 an election year, and Frerichs is slated to face Max Solomon in the general election, who won the GOP nod as a write-in candidate.
But his marketing of unclaimed property is nothing new.
鈥淲e know when people hear about our unclaimed property department, when they see an example of a real person getting money, more people visit our website, and when more people visit our website, we return more money,鈥� he said. 鈥淧art of the reason we have smashed records on unclaimed property is because of how we market it differently.鈥�
Frerichs first became treasurer in 2015, and his office has since returned more than $2.5 billion to more than 2.5 million people. That means Pope Leo鈥檚 PayPal windfall accounts for roughly 0.00000034% of the money returned.
鈥淪ome of them are amazing,鈥� he said of the returns of unclaimed property. 鈥淲e have an , which is the largest in U.S. history. We鈥檝e had million-dollar returns, half million. And some for only $8.65 actually probably will be the most memorable ones of my time in office.鈥�
Upon receipt of the certificate from Frerichs, the pope chuckled and shared a now about calling his bank to close an account, only to be hung up on when revealing himself to be Pope Leo.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a true, slightly modified, but true story,鈥� the pope can be heard saying . 鈥淎 bank in Illinois.鈥�
Frerichs told CNI he 鈥渃ompletely understood that.鈥�
He shared an anecdote from a few years back, when he had an issue with a bank that threatened to turn a sum of money over to the state鈥檚 unclaimed property administrator.
鈥淚 said, 鈥楽ure, go ahead and do that,鈥� and they said, 鈥楽ir, we don鈥檛 think you understand, it鈥檒l be more work to claim it from your state鈥檚 unclaimed property administrator than to do what we鈥檙e asking you to do,鈥欌�� he said.
鈥淎nd I said, 鈥楴o, I think I understand our state鈥檚 unclaimed property pretty well, go ahead and send it. 鈥� You鈥檒l be sending it to me, because I am the state鈥檚 unclaimed property administrator,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淎nd then there was a pause, and they said, 鈥楲et me get a manager.鈥欌��
So, what鈥檚 next for Pope Leo?
鈥淗e just has to give us an address to mail the check to,鈥� Frerichs said.
Any Illinoisan can check to see if they have unclaimed property on the treasurer鈥檚 website, .
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