Pope Francis married two flight attendants in an impromptu midair wedding during a flight from Santiago to Iquique, Chile.
Pope Francis has performed the first airborne papal wedding, during a LATAM flight in Chile.
Although Carlo Ciuffardi Elorriaga, 39, and Paula Podest Ruiz, 41, were married in a civil ceremony in 2010, the devastating earthquake that struck Chile that year prevented the couple from having a church wedding.
During the flight, the LATAM cabin crew were gathered in the First Class cabin for photos with the pope, when Carlo and Paula revealed that they were a married couple.
“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 said.
“He liked us and he asked: ‘Do you want me to marry you?’ He asked: ‘Are you sure?,’
“‘Yes of course!’ we said.”
A Vatican official then hastily drew up a handwritten marriage certificate with the airline’s chairman acting as a witness.
The couple then recounted the story to the 70 or so journalists who travelled with the pope.