Pope Francis spread love as he marries flight attendees in the mid-air during his flight from Santiago to Iquique. Paula Podest Ruiz, 39 and Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriga, 41; Air Crews of Latam Airlines had been married in a Civil Service asked the Pope to bless their marriage. But Pope had something else in his mind. He immediately asked him if they wanted him to solemnize their marriage at that very moment. Without any delay, Pope took the couple’s love to a new height. He performed the wedding ceremony at 36,000 feet during his flight from Santiago.
“We told him that we are husband and wife. That we have two daughters and that we would have loved to receive his blessing. All of a sudden, he asked us if we were married for the church too,” Mr Ciuffardi reported. The Catholic wedding service lined up the airline’s President as witness.
Watch the video of marriage of two flying high attendees
Paula and Carlos had a civil union eight years ago, told the Pope about their religious ceremony that was to follow got cancelled as their Parish Church in Santiago was heavily damaged in an Earthquake in 2010. The earthquake caused an extensive harm and activated Tsunami that resulted in the loss of nearly 500 lives.
According to the Vatican, this is the first time a Pope has ever officiated a wedding while flying on a plane. A photo of the handwritten improvised document validating the marriage was adorned with the Pope’s signature was released.
Love is in the air
A Vatican photo of the hand-written document, signed by Pope Francis, attesting to the wedding aboard the papal plane of Paula Podest Ruiz and Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriaga https://t.co/U94anQ0T34 pic.twitter.com/Gig2s27hND
— Joshua McElwee (@joshjmac) January 18, 2018
When the couple beamed as they were emerging from the front section of the plane, few correspondents in the back at first thought it to be a practical pun. “Everything is valid. Everything is official”, a spokesperson confirmed.
Francis is summing up his visit to Chile in Iquique where he celebrated an Open-Air Mass for the members of the city’s growing immigrant community.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 19, 2018 02:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).