Pennsylvania boy who was blessed by Pope Francis during Philadelphia visit prays for the Catholic leader
Matt Campuzano, a 10-year-old from Marple, Pennsylvania, is looking ahead to his spring basketball season and keeping Pope Francis in his prayers.
Matt has a special connection to the pope, who embraced him while making the rounds in his popemobile in Center City in September 2015, when Matt was five months old.
"I think it's cool," Matt said about the moment. He said he and his family pray for the pope every night.
Mom Nicole Campuzano said that moment is a special memory.
"Even now when I look at them, I can't believe that happened," she said. "It feels like watching a movie or something like that."
"Matthew is so excited about it, so when we meet people, he'll sometimes be excited to tell them, you know, 'I was kissed by the pope,'" she said.
This family, like so many others, has Francis in their thoughts.
Francis is in critical condition and has been hospitalized for 10 days with pneumonia in both lungs and other complications.
The Campuzanos believe the pope helped Matt nearly a decade ago.
"He was born with a brain condition called hydrocephalus, which is to put it simply, extra fluid in your brain that doesn't drain out, so he had a shunt put in. So when he was kissed by the pope we felt it was an extra grace and blessing for his life, and he is doing so well," Nicole Campuzano said.
"[A member of the security team] came right over and took him out of my husband's arms and handed him over, and it looks like the pope gave him a blessing maybe and then kissed him. And I was bawling my eyes out, I was so overwhelmed with emotion," she said. "It was amazing."
The emotion is not lost on Matt.
"I don't really remember it," he said, "but just looking at those pictures makes me feel blessed."
