Pope Francis spread the love at 36,000 feet when he married a pair of flight attendants while mid-air.
The Pope was on his way to Iquique from Santiago during a three-day visit to Chile when divine duty called.
Paula Podest, 39, and Carlos Ciufardi, 41, have been a couple for over ten years and were both working as flight attendants on the Catholic leader’s plane.
Podest and Ciufardi, who have two young children together, have been civilly married since 2010 and were due to marry religiously in a church.
However, when an earthquake damaged the church in which they were due to marry, they didn’t go through with the ceremony.
During the flight, the couple asked the Pope if he would bless their relationship.
Just Married: By #PopeFrancis on the papal flight from #Santiago to #Iquique. The happy couple works for LatAm airlines. (Photo: Paul Haring) pic.twitter.com/BNdfJNWSJs
— Catholic News Service (@CatholicNewsSvc) January 18, 2018
Pope Francis asked them if they were married, to which they explained their predicament.
He immediately asked them if they wanted him to officiate their wedding, there and then.
Without further ado, the Pope took the couple’s love to new heights by marrying them in the sky.
The Vatican has released a photo of a handwritten document validating the marriage adorned with the Pope’s signature.
This is the first time a pope has ever officiated a wedding while flying on a plane.
When the Pope told Podest and Ciufardi that he would marry them, they asked him if he was sure he was happy to perform the ceremony.
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
The Pope also allegedly gave the couple some words of wisdom to mark the special occasion.
“What he said to us is very important: ‘This is the sacrament the world needs, the sacrament of marriage’,” Ciufardi told journalists.
“Hopefully this will motivate couples around the world to get married.”
Pope of surprises!! 😇How lucky and blessed are that couple?
— Stephen Walford (@walford_stephen) January 18, 2018
Pope Francis has performed the first ever papal airborne wedding ceremony. These two flight attendants got hitched by the Pope, in mid-air. That beats just about every wedding story. https://t.co/914HWbOt11
— Nicole Brady (@NicoleDenver7) January 18, 2018
Congratulations....!!!! 😍😍😍
— Mónica Alvarado (@Moniksolange) January 18, 2018
Many people have expressed their admiration for Pope Francis for going above and beyond in his papal duties.
“How lucky and blessed are that couple?”, one woman wrote on Twitter.
Another Twitter user commented: “That beats just about every wedding story.”
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