Pope Francis marries two flight attendants on papal planeJanuary 19, 2018 - 13:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Pope Francis celebrated the first-ever airborne papal wedding on Thursday, January 18, marrying two flight attendants from Chile’s flagship airline during a flight from Santiago, Time reports. 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.” Podest and Ciuffardi, who were working Thursday on the flight to the beachside town of Iquique, have two children, 6-year-old Rafaela and 3-year-old Isabela. They said they plan to take a “mini-honeymoon” and return to Santiago on Friday. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |