Family That Drove 12,400 Miles Meets Pope, Gives Him 'Group Hug'

The Argentinian family who drove 12,400 miles to the United States for the World Meeting of Families ended up meeting Pope Francis.

The Walker family, who set out on their journey to Philadelphia on March 11, met the Pope Sunday at St. Charles Seminary, according to their Facebook page.

The surprise meeting capped off 200 days of road tripping by Catire Walker, 41, his wife, Noel Zemborain, 39, and their four children.

According to the family’s Facebook post, they received a call at 6 in the morning that the Pope wanted to meet them at St. Charles Seminary. The Pope heard of their travels and said he wanted to meet them, the family said on Facebook.

“We all ran from one place to another in complete chaos. We arrived flying without believing what was happening to us. In a hall they told us that the Pope would come. And after 5 minutes we were in front of him and he tells us ’You are the family who traveled from Buenos Aires? You are crazy,’ and laughed,” the family reported via Facebook.

“We did a group hug the 7 of us. We said we were so eager to greet him.”

Their daughter, Cala, carried a rosary and asked for a blessing. They reported the Pope was “very friendly and relaxed, as if he were a lifelong friend.”

The meeting was ”the best gift for the end of the journey of our life.”

To learn more about the Walker family’s journey,click here to visit their blog. (Photo used with permission from http://americaenfamilia.com)

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