Couple Invite Pope Francis to Wedding, Response Letter Goes Viral
7 hours ago
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A man who jokingly invited the late Pope Francis to his wedding in 2023 has gone viral after revealing the thoughtful letter he received in response.
Ahead of their wedding in October 2023, Ian and his bride-to-be Ash ordered plenty of extra wedding invitations just in case. With around 25 spares, Ian, 30, told Newsweek that they “decided to make a list of celebrities to send invitations to” in jest to use them all up.
One of the first names to go on that list was the late Pope Francis, as the couple from Cleveland, Ohio had great admiration for him as a leader. But they couldn’t just send any old invitation to the leader of the Catholic Church, so they wrote him a special one that was befitting of such an important figure.
“The invite we sent him was slightly more formal than the others,” Ian said. “We included much more formal language, referred to him as His Holiness, and said we wanted to extend this invite because he is someone we admired. We also asked him to please pray for us.
The letter from the Vatican on behalf of the late Pope Francis in response to Ian’s wedding invitation. The letter from the Vatican on behalf of the late Pope Francis in response to Ian’s wedding invitation. u/Misther__ / Reddit
“We were not married in a Catholic ceremony, but still, we thought he was an incredible leader and a good person who helped bring many important issues to light,” he continued.
The other celebrities they included on their list included Barack and Michelle Obama, actor Jack Black, and Judge Judy. An eclectic mix to say the least.
When they sent the invitations, they certainly weren’t expecting any responses. Ian said they are “just two humble people from Cleveland,” so they didn’t think people as important as the late Pope Francis would send anything back.
But as it turns out, a special letter came through the post around a month later.
Ian said: “It’s so funny how we found out because we went to our niece’s tee-ball game and my dad came up to me all serious and confused, asking why I had a letter from the Vatican. The return address was my parents’ house, and at first I forgot that we sent him a wedding invite, but then it hit me. I just thought, did we really get a letter from the Pope?”
The letter, received in June 2023, explained that Pope Francis received the letter and thanked the couple for it. “His Holiness will pray for you and your fiancée on the happy occasion of your wedding,” it continues.
It was sent from the Vatican on behalf of the late Pope. Newsweek has contacted the Vatican for comment via email.
The response left Ian and Ash speechless, and they’ve kept the letter framed in their home ever since.
“I think it shows that he was a man of the people and really walked the walk of the messages he preached: be humble, kind, and courteous. For us to be given a response from someone who is the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion people, it really made us feel honored,” Ian told Newsweek.
Following the news of the Pope’s passing on Monday, Ian shared a picture of the kind letter he received two years ago in a Reddit post (posting as user u/Misther__). The post instantly went viral with over 138,000 votes and 900 comments at the time of writing.
He also shared it on TikTok (@rev_ian.a) where is has gained over 1.5 million views and 282,200 likes so far.
The online reaction is beyond anything Ian expected, and while he isn’t Catholic, he hopes to show the generosity that was extended to him. Indeed, he believes that whoever succeeds Pope Francis will have “quite the legacy to live up to.”
The process of electing the next Pope is known as the papal conclave, which is the gathering of the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel. Their voting is kept under strict secrecy, and ballots are counted and burned after each round. Black smoke appearing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signals an inconclusive vote, while white smoke announces a new Pope has been elected.
After sharing a picture of the letter online, hundreds of social media users took to the comments section to share their thoughts.
One Reddit user wrote: “I am not a religious person, but that’s a class act.”
Another person added: “This is a beautiful memory of Pope Francis.”
While another comment reads: “I mean he didn’t say no anywhere in that letter.”
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