Pope Francis performs marriage ceremony aboard plane in Chile

By Devin Watkins

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, says the wedding Pope Francis performed aboard the papal plane bound for Iquique on Thursday was "totally legit" and "doctrinally OK".

The newly-weds - Paula Podest Ruiz and Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriaga - are flight attendants for LATAM and met 8 years ago aboard a plane.

They were married civilly in 2010. However, they were unable to follow up with a Sacramental marriage because their church was destroyed before the ceremony by an earthquake, which hit Chile that year.

Greg Burke said, "Doctrinally it's OK, because to be married the actual ministers are the people themselves. You just need a witness. There are a couple other things, normally there are publications. And there were things that had to passed over, but it's totally legit, and everyone's happy!"

He said it "was not the Pope's idea; it was their idea, but the Pope was happy to do it."

Pope Francis was enroute to Iquique to celebrate Mass on the final day of his Apostolic Visit to Chile.

The official marriage certificate reads: "On 18 January 2018, aboard the papal plane from Santiago to Iquique, Mr. Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriaga and Ms. Paula Podest Ruiz contracted marriage, in the presence of the witness, Ignacio Cueto. The Holy Father Pope Francis received their consent."