Video: Pope Francis Marries Couple Aboard Papal Plane

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Video: Pope Francis Marries Couple Aboard Papal Plane
Sun 21-01-2018

Pope Francis married two flight attendants in an impromptu ceremony on his papal plane some 36,000 feet over Chile.

Vatican officials say it marks the first time a pope has married a couple on a papal plane.

It all started when the pair, Paula Podest Ruiz and Carlos Ciuffardi Ellorriaga, began chatting with the pontiff when they were seated next to him during a group photo shoot. The plane was ferrying the Pope on a short flight from Santiago to the northern city of Iquique.

Pope Francis asked them if they were married and the couple told him they had been scheduled to be wed when the 2010 Chile earthquake hit, destroying the church where they were to tie the knot.

They were married civilly, with the legal documents to prove it, but they'd never had a formal wedding ceremony before an official of the church.

According to the couple, Pope Francis blessed their rings and then said "we need a witness." Ciuffardi turned around and asked his boss, the CEO of the airline, to serve as witness.

Then the Pope asked his cardinals to draft the paperwork, Ciuffardi said. One cardinal aboard the flight drafted the wedding certificate on a sheet of paper from the airline by hand. The document was signed by Pope Francis, the couple and the witness.

Pope Francis gave the bride a white rosary and the groom a black rosary.