Love is, officially, in the air.
Pope Francis married two airline employees at 36,000 feet in an impromptu mid-air wedding ceremony during a flight from Santiago to Iquique, Chile.
Carlo Ciuffardi Elorriga and Paula Podest Ruiz, who work for the airline Latam, were both working a shift as cabin crew when the unplanned ceremony took place.
It all kicked off when the Pope got chatting to the stewards, and found out that they had actually been married in a civil ceremony back in 2010, but could not go through with their religious ceremony due to an earthquake.
The tremor had damaged the site of their planned ceremony in Santiago, meaning the newlyweds couldn’t go ahead with the second service.
In a video taken of the in-air ceremony, Elorriga and Ruiz pose for photos and excitedly inform journalists of what just happened.
Clip via ROME REPORTS in English
“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.”
The pope performed the brief ceremony in the front of the plane. Ignacio Cueto, president of Latam airlines, who was onboard, acted as witness.
An improvised marriage certificate was signed by Francis, the couple, Mr Cueto and a bishop who also happened to be on the plane.
“Being married by a pope on board a flight is something priceless,” Ms Podest said.
Ms Podest told reporters and the pope that the couple had met on a flight when she was his boss, adding: “I am still his boss.”
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