Pope Francis has come to signify a pivoting change in leadership style of the Catholic church, advocating many principles and ideologies of people around the world on issues of social justice, civil and human rights.
On Easter Sunday, 2013… after Pope Francis embraced an 8 -year old Rhode Island boy with cerebral palsy during his tour of Saint Peter’s Square following mass. Some assert the embrace personifies Pope Francis and his mission to reach out and serve the poor and those less fortunate than others.
Paul Gondreau, father of five from Johnston, Rhode Island and Catholic Theologian at Providence College, tells WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay, as he watched his son, Dominic, on the jumbotron in his holy father’s embrace it became clear, “ it was an incredible moment for his family. He recalls it as nothing short of a miracle that happened that day in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.”
Gondreau was spending a semester in Rome with his family when they decided to attend the Easter Sunday mass celebration. He says when the Pontiff reached out from his Pope mobile and embraced his son it happened as “the world was getting to know Pope Francis, who had just come into his new role three weeks prior to the celebration of Easter Sunday Mass, and there was a lot of attention on Rome.”
The iconic image almost didn’t come to pass, according to Gondreau. “ I have five children and to get the children rounded up and off to Saint Peter’s Square early in the morning with daylight saving time no less, was not the easiest feat in the world.”
Gondreau says his family was running late and there were a quarter of a million people waiting to see the pontiff in Saint Peter’s Square. His son Dominic was invited to go upfront to the disabled section with his wife, while he stayed back in another seating section with his other four children.
At the end of Mass, the Pope began his tour. “When you’re in the square there’s a lot of excitement and energy. He says his oldest son, Lucas, who was 12 at the time, looked up to the jumbo-tron and watch as the Pope reached out to Dominic from the Pope mobile. When the embrace with Dominic occurred, my oldest son kept saying, “It’s Dominic, It’s Dominic. I looked up at the jumbo-tron and see Pope Francis embracing my son and I was moved to tears. My son, Lucas and I stood there shocked and in total disbelief.”
The photograph has since became an Iconic image and Gondreau says it came to define who this pope is and it’s been a signature theme of his pontificate ever since.
Gondreau says, “ the image speaks to a familiar theme that Pope Francis is sending around the world, which is that Catholic-Christians need to reach out to the margins and serve the poor, reach out toward the fringes.”
He says, “What we saw in that embrace is what he meant by the poor…those who have disabilities, or special needs, those who are lonely or suffer psychological impairment or emotional wounds, and expressing our love for the poor.”
Gondreau says my son knew who the Pope was, he’s the son of a Catholic theologian, and he broke into a great smile. But what was extraordinary was that Dominic, who has severe physical limitation, but his cognitive abilities are normal, put his arm around the pope, which is unusual because with his disability it take him a long time to process that kind of intentional movement with his body…. that he did it on the spot, with a quarter of a million people watching …I’m convinced that was nothing short of a miracle.
Gondreau says his son has never revealed what Pope Francis whispered in his ear that day!
To listen to the entire interview with Providence College Theology Professor Paul Gondreau click on the audio link above.
