A family from Buenos Aires, Argentina, drove 13,000 miles on a VW Kombi just to meet Pope Francis in Philadelphia on Saturday, a feat which the Pontiff described as "crazy."
The Walker family's dream to personally meet the Pope came through Sunday when they received a call to go to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, the Washington Post said.
"We met the Pope !!! At 6 in the morning we received a call that the Pope was very happy to see us and that we had to go immediately to San Charles Seminary. Imagine the uproar that this causes," wrote Noel Zemborain, who was with husband Alfredo Walker and children Cala, 12; Dimas, 8; Mia, 5; and Carmin, 3, on the journey.
At the seminary, "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," Zemborain said.
She said her daughter "Cala clung to his waist and did not leave him."
They told the Pope "that we met hundreds of families in America who love him and are praying for him."
"I need prayers, this is very difficult, from this position one can do great good and great evil, pray for me," Pope Francis told them.
They had a group hug.
"We said we were so eager to greet him, and he said 'when they told that you were over here, I said that I wanted to meet you, I've been following you, it's great they found you,'" Zemborain said.
Pope Francis then said, "This is very important: a young family who has the courage to go out on a kombi and live life with joy and to the encounter of other families."
Cala brought a rosary and asked the Pope to bless it.
"Thanks for coming," Pope Francis told the Walkers, who replied, "Thank you for inspiring us to go out and make a little mess."
"The best gift for the end of the journey of our life," Zemborain wrote.
The Walker family began their trip last March and asked people for funds online to support their journey.
