By Patricia Uyeh,

Even though Paula Podest, 39, and Carlos Ciufardi, 41 have been civilly married since 2010, the earthquake of February 27  same year damaged the church in which they were due to marry so they didn’t have an elaborate ceremony.

According to Catholic News Service, the couple, who are both flight attendants for Chile’s LatAm airline, coincidentally were working in the flight that Pope Francis was travelling in. So they walked up to him and told him of their marriage story, requesting that he blessed their marriage.

Ciufardi narrating his encounter with the pope, said they(himself and wife)  were asked whether they want to get married.

He replied :

“I said, ‘Well, yes. Are you sure?’ Then the pope said, “Are YOU sure?’ I told him, ‘Yes! Let’s get married,’” Ciuffardi said. And at 36,000 feet above sea level, the pope officiated the first-ever airborne papal wedding, in a flight from Santiago to Iquique, Chile.

“He told me it’s historic, that there has never before been a pope who married someone aboard a plane,” Ciufardi told journalists in the aisle of the Airbus 321.

And the pope 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.”

According to ABC, the couple, who are parents to Rafaela, 6 and Isabela, 3 – together, plan to take a “mini honeymoon” and return to Santiago on Friday.

See their marriage license below:

Photo credit: BellaNaija