Posted on 04/02/2013 1:42:08 PM PDT by envisio
A Rhode Island couple has revealed how they were moved to tears when Pope Francis kissed their disabled eight-year-old son in front of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday. Paul and Christina Gondreau of Johnston and their five children, including son Dominic who suffers from cerebral palsy, attended Easter Mass at the Vatican. An usher directed Dominic and his mother to an area designated for handicapped children, said Paul Gondreau, a theology professor at Providence College who is teaching this semester in Rome. When the pope's vehicle arrived, the usher motioned to the driver to stop and with the help of the mother, held the boy up to Pope Francis, who took the boy in his arms and kissed him.
'It was really moving... There was not a dry eye,' his mother Christiana told CNN. 'Dominic is a people person but I think he understood that was exceptionally special. 'I think you can see that in the pictures and video because he broke out in a huge smile and wrapped his arm around the pope, which was very moving as a mother... It was a beautiful moment.'
Her husband Paul called the experience 'an incredibly moving encounter' in an article online. At first, he was not aware that his son was being embraced by the pope until one of his other children, Lucas, screamed, 'It's Dominic!' Only when Lucas said, 'The pope is holding Dominic', did his father look at the giant video screen and see the two embracing. 'I was speechless, and I was moved to tears, along with Lucas,' Mr Gondreau said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
My eyes filled up when I saw the photo Easter Sunday. How wonderful a simple kindness can be..and even more so by our Pope.
As far as encounters go....
What are the odds of meeting your favorite movie star? shaking his hand?
What are the odds of meeting the President of the United States? (whether you like him or not) shaking his hand?
All that pales in comparrison to being kissed by the Pope.
Sure looks like faith, hope, and love.
Wouldn’t it be great if th child were cured.
I am sure there would still be some doubters, but we need a sign, and that would be a good one.
I was wondering....
...and I am not being funny or mocking...
But how is this child perceived now? I mean, is this the ‘ultimate blessing’ apart from being touched by the hand of God Himself?
Would people consider this child ‘special’ now and want to touch him? Really, I am not being sarcastic.
My daughter sent me that YouTube clip. Dominick’s mother, Christiana, was a high school classmate of my daughter. They went to Lincoln High School in Buenos Aires. Christiana has a twin sister. I emailed my daughter back, telling her that my screen got very blurry; she said hers did as well.
No.
And no offense taken.
I said to a friend a week ago, "I would not be at all surprised to see a miracle one of these days when Pope Francis blesses the sick in the square outside St. Peter's."
He’s just a man, not God. I might say he himself would not like the kind of attention and big deal people are making over him.
Wasn't thinking sarcasm. Was thinking dolt or clod or just plain axx.
But, then, you know nothing about being Pope, correct?
...what an incredible moment for the Father
No, Catholics would not look upon this boy as now having had any special attributes resulting from the encounter with the pope. That would not fit into our belief system.
Why the story of this embrace is significant, I think, is that it highlights our new pope’s gracious way of reaching out to people on a very real human level.
Some people might, but it would be solely a personality trait of theirs and not have anything to do with being a Catholic or Catholic teaching, as seems to be implied by your post.
You don’t comprehend what you supposedly read, very well.
Then you do know how to be pope.
you clearly cannot read. i sure hope you get help. sesame street is still on the big tubey tube thingy in your living room. get a grownup to turn it on for you.
Try explaining your obvious bigotry. It will be more appropriate than trying to insult me. Either that or put some teeth in your insults.
you are a moron. everything i said was true. what did i say that wasn’ t true? point it out for me einstein.
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