Love was in the air today when Pope Francis officiated at the first ever marriage on a papal plane.
The Pope married a young couple on board his plane from Chile to Peru
The 81-year-old Argentinian pontiff married Paula Podest Ruiz and Carlos Ciuffardi, an air stewardess and steward who work for LatAm airlines.
On board the flight from Santiago to Iquique, the couple – who are already civilly married – explained to Francis that they had married in 2010 in Santiago but could not go through with their church ceremony afterwards because the building was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake in Chile.
To their surprise, the Pope then offered to marry them on the spot and the paperwork was hastily worked out.
As required by church law there were two witnesses to the event. These were Ignacio Cueto, owner of LatAm airlines who is the couple's boss and who was also best man and Mgr Mauricio Rueda.
During the airborne ceremony, which took place at 36,000 feet in the air on the Airbus 321 early Thursday morning, the Pope said: "We hope that what you have done will be an inspiration to other couples around the world."
Ciuffardi, 41, told journalists aboard the flight that, after he explained their story, he asked the pope for their blessing. Instead, the Pope suggested he marry them. Before declaring the couple man and wife the Pope asked him with a smile: "But are you really sure?" He said Pope Francis described the marriage ceremony as "historic".
He and Paola already have two children: Raffaella, 6, and Isabella, 4.
(Pic: LatAm Airlines employees Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriaga, 41, and Paula Podest Ruiz, 39, talk to journalists after being married by Pope Francis aboard his flight from Santiago, Chile, to Iquique Jan. 18. Credit: CNS photo/Paul Haring.)
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