NAPLES, Italy, March 23 (UPI) — A Naples, Italy, pizzeria owner jumped a barrier during Pope Francis’ visit and ran up to the Popemobile to hand off a pizza to the pontiff.
The pope told a Vatican Radio interview earlier this month that “one thing that I would like is to go out, without anyone recognizing me, and go to a pizzeria to eat pizza.”
Enzo Cacialli, co-owner of Pizzeria Don Ernesto in Naples, may not have had the ability to grant the pontiff’s wish, but he was able to do the next best thing — he handed off a thin-style crust pizza with “Il Papa” spelled out in dough on top to Francis as he passed by in the Popemobile Sunday.
The delivery, which did not seem to phase the pope’s security detail, was captured on video.
“I gave him the pizza and with a smile he said ‘thank you,’” Cacialli told CNN.
“It’s really hard for me to understand what I managed to do,” Cacialli said. “Giving a pizza you made with your own hands to the Pope is very emotional. It’s really hard for me to express the value of this gesture for a man we really love and value, for a beautiful person full of humanity.”
Cacialli said his father made a pizza for President Bill Clinton during a Naples visit in 1994.
The pizza maker said he is hoping to hear back about whether Pope Francis enjoyed the pie.
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