The Story of the Manayunk Photographer, the Pope, and a Blessed Young Boy

Photo courtesy of Joseph Gidjunis/World Meeting of Families

Joseph Gidjunis, the well-known Manayunk-based photographer, had an eventful week when Pope Francis came to town. Gidjunis volunteered with the World Meeting of Families and took photos all weekend long.

In fact, Gidjunis said in an email, he and his team took more than 36,000 photographs over the course of the six days of the World Meeting and the Pope’s visit. He later said on his blog that he was up for 38 straight hours on the weekend.

Of all of those photos, one was instantly iconic- the one of Pope Francis blessing a young boy named Michael Keating on the tarmac at Philadelphia International Airport. Gidjunis told the whole story on his blog, including the part in which he misplaced his credentials and had to make a 3 a.m. phone call to set things straight:

This week, on the tarmac of Atlantic Aviation adjacent to the Philadelphia International Airport, I was humbled in the presence of Pope Francis as he stopped his infamous tiny Fiat and blessed Michael Keating, a 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. I was blessed to be chosen to document the Holy Father’s arrival into Philadelphia, but it was unexpected… As the Pope emerged and walked over to Michael Keating and his family, I was in position to capture that moment. Gary was, too, but everyone else was on the other side of the action. As Pope Francis returned to his motorcade, Gary and I looked at each other, both a little red in the eyes, and me, well, I’m glad the Pope drove away as I could barely see anymore as I was pretty much weeping with a camera to my face as a shield. Looking back, the uncertainty is part of what made this whole experience so impactful for me, because it highlighted just how unlikely and miraculous every moment was that we witnessed.