On Thursday 18 January Pope Francis religiously married two flight attendants on board a Latam flight between Santiago and Iquique, two cities in Chili. The ceremony was held at an altitude of 11,000 meters, according to the Vatican it’s the very first time that a couple gets married at 33,000 feet.
At the end of the ceremony, held separately and in the presence of a witness, the two employees of the airline signed a certificate signed by Pope Francis.
A Vatican photo of the hand-written document, signed by Pope Francis, attesting to the wedding aboard the papal plane of Paula Podest Ruiz and Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriaga https://t.co/U94anQ0T34 pic.twitter.com/Gig2s27hND
— Joshua McElwee (@joshjmac) January 18, 2018
Carlos Ciuffardi (41) and Paula Podest (39) had already been married legally since 2010 and have two children. They could never marry religiously because the church where the ceremony was to take place was destroyed due to an earthquake.
Francisco casó a una pareja en pleno vuelo a Iquique @ABCMundial ?Paula Podest ?? Carlos Ciuffardi ?? contrajeron #MatrimonioEnVuelo #Iquique @Pontifex_es#ElVueloDeFrancisco #FranciscoEnChile @LATAM_CHI
https://t.co/AEe5MlEUHB pic.twitter.com/aZan1wGT7r— ABC Mundial (@ABCMundial) January 18, 2018
In a video that Latam tweeted you can see the happy couple next to the aircraft, they say (In spanish) that they are very happy and very touched. And they want to share their happiness with everyone.
¡Un sueño cumplido! Paula Podest y Carlos Ciuffardi están felices con la bendición recibida por parte de @Pontifex_es en pleno vuelo a #Iquique y quieren compartir este momento con todos nosotros. #ElVueloDeFrancisco #FranciscoEnChile pic.twitter.com/CKdPsgOI04
— LATAM Chile (@LATAM_CHI) January 18, 2018
On Thursday The Pope will finish his visit to Chile with a mass in Iquique, before continuing his journey to Peru.
