This was published 6 years ago
Pope performs wedding ceremony for two LATAM flight attendants on board papal plane
By Nicole Winfield
Pope Francis has celebrated an impromptu first-ever airborne papal wedding, marrying two LATAM flight attendants from Chile at 36,000 feet during a flight from Santiago.
Bride Paula Podest, 39, and groom Carlos Ciuffardi, 41, said "I do" after telling Francis that they had been married in a civil service in 2010 but had been unable to follow up with a church ceremony because of the earthquake that rocked Chile that year.
Francis then offered to marry them aboard the Airbus 321 en route to the northern beach city of Iquique, and they readily agreed.
Pope France performs the wedding ceremony.
The head of the LATAM airline served as the witness.
"He told me it's historic, that there has never before been a pope who married someone aboard a plane," Ciuffardi said.
Ciuffardi said the pope also told them: "This is the sacrament that is missing in the world, the sacrament of marriage. May this motivate others to get the sacrament of marriage. I'll do it for this reason."
Crew members Paula Podest and Carlos Ciufffardi kiss before journalists after being married by Pope Francis during the flight between Santiago and the northern city of Iquique, in Chile.Credit: AP
Podest and Ciuffardi, who have two children, six-year-old Rafaela and three-year-old Isabela, said they plan to take a "mini-honeymoon" and return to Santiago on Friday.
The remarkable wedding transpired seemingly spontaneously. The flight crew was gathering in the front of the plane for a photo with the pope when the couple told him they were married and he motioned for them to sit next to him.
"We told him that we are husband and wife, that we have two daughters and that we would have loved to receive his blessing," Ciuffardi said. "All of a sudden he asked us if we were married in the church, too."
Pope Francis walks down the stairway as he arrives at the international airport in Lima, Peru.Credit: AP
The couple explained that their church's bell tower had fallen during the quake, forcing the cancellation of the service. One thing led to another, and they never followed up.
"He liked us and he asked, 'Do you want me to marry you?",' Ciuffardi recounted. "He asked: 'Are you sure?' 'Yes, of course!' we said."
Podest said she and Ciuffardi had also explained to Francis that when they first started dating, she was his boss at LATAM. Francis asked if she was still the boss, and both readily agreed.
One of a kind: The marriage certificate of flight attendants Carlos Ciuffardi and Paola Podest, signed by Pope Francis mid flight.Credit: L'Osservatore Romano/AP
"And that's why the marriage works," Ciuffardi said.
Francis, Argentinian by birth, is on a South American trip that started in Chile where he was confronted by protests over the Church's sex abuse scandal, and church burnings. He arrived in Peru on Thursday.
AP
Sign up for the Traveller newsletter
The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.