Aucklander Thomson Philip say he reacted with disbelief to the news he would be one of the select few to have a personal lunch with the Pope.
“I got an email message and I checked to see if it was real, if it came from the right place, from the right source. I was so surprised and I almost fainted. It was a great lunch.”
27 year old Philip ,who was born in India, is a communications engineer. He told CNA, “I don’t have enough words to describe what I feel. I felt so blessed and it was the best experience of my life. I have a lot of responsibility now with this.”
During the Friday lunch, Pope Francis sat at one of the tables, while Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio sat at the other. On both sides sat seven young people. Philip sat in the first spot on the Pope’s left.
“It was a great opportunity in which the Pope asked us to spread the hope of Christ to others. He also asked us to pray for him,” he said. “We didn’t care about the food, just about him.”
A papal lunch with young people from the worlds’ continents has become a World Youth Day tradition.
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