Now a seminarian

The little boy who managed to get past the crowd control barrier at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013 to hug Pope Francis is now a seminarian preparing for the priesthood.

WelCom August 2023

The little boy who managed to get past the crowd control barrier at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013 to hug Pope Francis is now a seminarian preparing for the priesthood. On 26 July, 2013, Nathan de Brito, then nine years old, managed to get to the popemobile carrying Pope Francis through the streets of Rio de Janeiro. He then hugged the Holy Father and told him that he wanted to be a priest. Ten years later, Mr de Brito is in the preparatory seminary of the Archdiocese of Campo Grande, Brazil. For Mr de Brito, ‘remembering that encounter is to always rekindle the flame of vocation’.

Pope Francis embraces Nathan during WYD. Photo: CNA