We love a good Friday story, and by golly have we got a doozy today.
Religious figure and man loved by most of the world, Pope Francis, is making headlines having wed two flight attendants mid-air while flying between two Chilean cities.
The bride, 39-year-old Paula Podest Ruiz, and groom, 41-year-old Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriga, had previously wed at a civil union eight years ago, however, were still hoping to one day to have a religious ceremony after the original ceremony was cancelled.
After explaining this to Pope Francis, they then asked him to simply bless their marriage, but he may have one-upped that a tiny bit.
Speaking to reporters after the event, Ciuffardi Elorriga said, “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.”
The reason the original religious ceremony was cancelled was due to the 2010 earthquake which damaged their church.
“He liked us and he asked: ‘Do you want me to marry you?’ He asked: ‘Are you sure?,’ Podest Ruiz said.
“‘Yes of course,’ we said.”
According to ABC News, the Pope then performed the ceremony at the front of the plane.
Coincidently, the president of Latam Airlines, Ignacio Cueto, was on the plane and acted as a witness.
A makeshift marriage certificate was then drafted and signed by Cueto.
“Being married by a pope on board a flight is something priceless,” Podest said.
“I asked him: ‘Do you marry people?’ He said: ‘Yes, from time to time. I have married 40 couples.’ But never has a pope married somebody on a flight,” she added.
