Leo XIV's Barber Didn't Know He Was Cutting the Pope's Hair

Two weeks after his election, Pope Leo called his old barber: “Mario, it’s Robert Prevost. Can you come to my house for a haircut?”

The pope’s barber, Mario Reyes, was invited to cut his longtime client Pope Leo’s hair at the Vatican in late May.

Dear friends,

Some of the most revealing stories about a pope are found not in official statements but in the ordinary moments of life.

When I read a remarkable profile in the Italian newspaper La Stampa about Pope Leo XIV’s longtime barber — a Peruvian immigrant in Rome who discovered his client had become pope only after the white smoke rose over St. Peter’s — I knew I had to translate it, summarize it, and share it with you.

This story is more than a charming anecdote; it’s a glimpse of Leo’s humility and warmth, shaped by his years in Peru as a missionary and bishop.

This evening I’ll be publishing the next essay in my paid ubscriber-only series on the life and formation of Pope Leo.

Tonight’s will uncover the remarkable 20-year friendship between Pope Leo and the late Pope Francis — a relationship that shaped both men’s visions of leadership and faith.

The third part of that series was released on Monday.

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As exclusively reported by the Italian newspaper La Stampa, an ordinary barbershop near the Vatican has become the setting for one of the most unexpected stories of Pope Leo XIV’s early papacy.

But for Mario Reyes, a 37-year-old barber from Ica, Peru, a small shop near the Vatican walls became the unlikely setting for a story of faith, friendship, and an extraordinary twist of fate.

Reyes arrived in Rome three years ago, bringing with him the warmth and humor of his native Peru.

Working in a barbershop that attracts clergymen from across the globe, he never knows if the man sitting in his chair might be a priest, a bishop, or even a future pope.

Among the “regulars” in his customer database was Robert Francis Prevost — an American cleric who had spent decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru.

Pope Leo has supported different hairstyles throughout his 69-year life. The photos of his hair in the 1980s, however, have caused the most stir.

“I remember his first visit,” Reyes told La Stampa. “He came in with a slightly unusual accent — not fully Italian, not fully Spanish.

When I asked where he was from, he said he was American but had lived for many years in Peru. I laughed, ‘What a coincidence! I’m Peruvian!’ That broke the ice, and he opened up right away.”

Their conversations, always in Spanish, became monthly appointments. Reyes and Prevost talked about food, soccer, and the pulse of life back home.

“His eyes would shine when we talked about Chiclayo, the seaside city he loved,” Reyes recalled. “He’d arrive with his beard already done, asking only for a trim.”

The last visit came just before Easter — days before the conclave that would elect Prevost as Pope Leo XIV.

When Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, Reyes, like millions of others, watched the funeral and the smoke rising over St. Peter’s Basilica.

“I was distracted, but when I heard the name ‘Prevost,’ my heart skipped a beat,” he said.

Mario says Pope Leo always came in clean-shaven. It wasn’t always the case. Here he is in 1980.

“It was the same name I’d been writing into my appointment book for months. I shouted to my colleague Jeffrey, also Peruvian: ‘That’s our American client!’”

Reyes assumed he’d never see his old customer again. Vatican protocol, tight security, and the demands of the papacy seemed like insurmountable barriers.

But two weeks after the election, the shop’s phone rang. “I answered and heard a familiar voice: ‘Mario, it’s Robert Prevost. Could you come to my house and give me a haircut?’ It was the pope, asking if I could come to the Vatican for a haircut.”

Nervous but determined, Reyes approached the Vatican gates.

“Good morning, I’m the pope’s barber,” he told security, scarcely believing the words himself.

Soon he was escorted inside, where he even trimmed the hair of Pope Leo’s secretary, Don Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga, a fellow Peruvian from Chiclayo. Moments later, the Pope entered the room with open arms: “Mario!”

In that instant, the two men picked up where they’d left off.

They spoke about Peru — its people, its culture, its warmth — and the pope’s years as a missionary and bishop before arriving in Rome.

When Reyes asked what he missed most about his old home, Leo XIV didn’t hesitate:

“I miss the people.”

Reyes left the Vatican walking on air, certain he would be called again. “He’ll reach out personally, as he always does,” he said. “That’s the kind of man he is.”

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The next part of the series will be released tonight. while the third part was released on Monday.

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