Another one from the ‘You can’t make this stuff up’ file — Francis marries couple aboard airplane flight

Francis’ Flying Circus

"A small ceremony was started in the place, he asked us for the rings and he asked us if there was love in our marriage, if we wanted to continue together our entire lives," said Carlos Ciuffardi, cabin crewman and brand new husband of Paula Podest, cabin manager.

The Pope asked Ciuffardi if Paula was still the boss, to which she replied "yes".

"And I'm still the boss," she added smiling.

source: La Cronica, Papa realiza primera boda en avión

Francis presides at the wedding ceremony of Latam Airlines flight attendants Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriaga and Paula Podest Ruiz, civilly married for ten years with two daughters — Rafaella, 6, and Isabella, 3.

Paula Podest Ruiz, 39, and Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriga, 41, told Francisco that they were married as a civilian, and although they had planned their religious ceremony in a church in Santiago, it could not be carried out because it suffered serious damage in the earthquake of 2010.

Because of this, the crew members asked for the blessing for their marriage. But he had something else in mind.

"Do you want me to marry you?" Asked the Supreme Pontiff. "Here?" Replied the astonished spouses.

The Pope said yes and made a brief ceremony in the front of the plane.

Ignacio Cueto, chairman of the board of LATAM Airlines, was an official witness and a document was signed by a Chilean bishop on board.

"Everything is valid. Everything is official, "said Vatican spokesman Greg Burke. "We will show you an image of the document later," he added.

source: Circulo Rojo de Mexico,EL PAPA FRANCISCO CELEBRA BODA EN PLENO VUELO

Bride Paola 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 Feb. 27, 2010, earthquake that rocked Chile.

Francis then offered to marry the LATAM flight attendants aboard the aircraft en route to the northern city of Iquique, and they readily agreed. The head of the 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 told journalists in the aisle of the Airbus 321.

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.”

source: Time, Pope Francis Performs First Airborne Papal Wedding During Flight in Chile

The hand-written document, signed by Francis, attesting to the wedding of  

Paula Podest Ruiz and Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriaga aboard the papal plane.

The remarkable wedding transpired seemingly spontaneously, as is often the case with the ever-surprising Francis: 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."

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."

A Vatican official hastily drew up an official, albeit handwritten marriage certificate, stating that the two had consented to the sacrament of marriage on Jan. 18 and that Francis had celebrated the marriage "aboard the papal plane from Santiago to Iquique."

A stunned Podest was nearly speechless during the remaining hour on the flight as she recounted the story to the 70 or so journalists who travel with the pope on his foreign trips.

She said Francis offered a bit of advice to the not-so-newlyweds: "The wedding rings shouldn't be too tight, because they'll torture you, but if they're too loose, they'll fall off. So we have to be careful," she said blushing.

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.

"And that's why the marriage works," Ciuffardi said.

After applause — and a breakfast of fresh fruit, croissants, coffee and tea — the plane landed in Iquique and the couple bid the passengers farewell.

"We hope you had a good flight," the bride said.

source: ABC 13 News, Love in the air: Pope marries couple on papal plane in Chile

To recap, a steward and a stewardess were civilly married in 2010 because the church they were to marry in collapsed in an earthquake.  They couldn’t find another church during the eight years of their civil marriage apparently because they were too busy raising their two daughters and flying around South America working.  Yep and this couple just happened to be so lucky as to meet Francis on the airplane where coincidence of coincidences he spontaneously proposed to marry them, in order to “motivate others to get the sacrament of marriage.”  What’s the difference between a religious wedding in a church with a Mass and the performance that Francis just gave?  Apparently not much in the eyes of the Novus Ordo!  It’s all good, as Greg Burke assured them, “Everything is valid. Everything is official.”  An obvious Opus-(Ju)Dei photo-op.

“the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null.”

Francis, 16 June 2016