Page 14 - IAV Digital Magazine #525

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Spiderman Met The Pope At Wednesday's Attendance And Also Gave HimA Customized Mask
By Fredrick Ramirez
Spiderman met the Pope during his weekly address at the Vatican on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Pope’s weekly general audience at the Vatican were met with a surprise when a guy showed up in a Spiderman cos- tume to meet the Pope. Identified as 28-year-old Italian Matteo Villardita, who vis- its sick children in hospitals after having undergone several childhood surgeries of his own for a congen- ital condition, the superhero told AP TV he gave Pope
Click Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAiOu7o54yM
Villardita also took a number of self- ies with the Pope, suggesting that he was encour- aged to do so by the kids he is often serving.
"But the real superheroes are the children who are suffering and their families who are fighting with so much hope," Villardita told the Vatican's media outlet Vatican News while addressing his appearance at the attendance. As for why he only chose to dress up as the web-wield- ing Marvel super- hero, Villardita said, "It's my favourite charac- ter from when I was a kid."
Francis a mask "as a sign, to tell him that through these eyes I daily see the pain from sick children in hospitals."
His initiative, called "Superheroes in the Ward," was launched two years ago. Some
of his friends often join him in this effort as well. Apparently, Pope Francis was quite familiar with Villardita and his
philanthropic mis- sion, and that is why he was not surprised when Villardita handed him a customized Spiderman mask.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine