Three-month-old from Rathkeale becomes last child blessed by Pope Francis before his passing
The infant, from a Traveller family in Rathkeale, was presented to the Pope as he made his way around St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Easter Sunday last.
Baby John’s father Daniel Flynn described the emotional moment to the Irish Independent as “unbelievable.”
The Flynn family; Daniel, his wife Jessica, and their two boys Dan (4) and John, were on holiday in Italy at the time, and originally due to visit the resting place of Padre Pio on the day of the Easter Mass.
However, they chose to attend the Pope’s final trip around the square in his Popemobile, something the Pontiff undertook despite battling double pneumonia.
“He came out and did a round of the square and my baby John was the last to be blessed by him,” Daniel says.
“There was a baby beside us, and they passed him out and came to John,” he adds.
Born on January 10 in Limerick, John will be reminded of the moment for years to come as his entire family are devout Catholics.
“He was meant to do a blessing from the window but decided to do a tour of the square,” Daniel recalls.
Sitting in the hotel after, Daniel even saw his young son on Sky News. “I couldn’t believe it actually happened,” he laughed.
“You couldn’t get breathing space there,” he remembers, as the square was packed with up to 35,000 people.
The blessing has become a cherished memory for the family, who have now returned home to Limerick from their trip.
Baby John (three-months-old) blessed by the late Pope Francis
The Flynn’s wider family were ecstatic about the blessing. “They were over the moon, delighted, to be blessed by the Pope,” John states, “it was a moment we’ll never forget. There were even people coming down to me after saying how lucky we were.”
Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, was known for his compassion and outreach to people of all backgrounds.
After his passing the following day, the Flynns attended St Peter’s Basillica and laid flowers for the late pontiff. “He was a wonderful Pope as well,” Daniel remembers.
While on their holiday of a lifetime, the Flynn family also visited the resting place of Carlo Acutis, the British-born Italian teenager who, it was recently announced, will soon be canonised, nearly two decades after his passing due to leukaemia in 2006.
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