Down syndrome boy fulfills dream of hugging Pope Benedict

A youth who suffers from Down syndrome and recently received the Sacrament of Confirmation in Italy, fulfilled his dream on Sept. 5 of meeting Pope Benedict XVI and giving him a hug. 

According to L’Osservatore Romano, after the Pope’s Wednesday general audience, the boy named Luca greeted and briefly spoke with the pontiff. Luca was accompanied during the audience by 449 other young people from the Archdiocese of Lucca who all received confirmation in recent weeks. 

Alessia, who was also among the young people from the archdiocese, said Luca is “the person who best expresses our presence together here with the Pope, after having received the Sacrament of Confirmation.”

Another group of 1,700 young people from the Focolare movement also attended the audience.

Among those who had the chance to greet the Pope Benedict were young people from Nigeria, Iraq, Pakistan and Mexico. They chatted briefly with him about the conference they attended in Budapest, where they were encouraged to put into practice the commandment of Jesus, “That they all be one.”