After 13K Miles in '80 VW Bus, Family Meets Pope

They just hopped in the car ... 6 months ago in Argentina
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 27, 2015 12:16 PM CDT
After 13K Miles in '80 VW Bus, Family Meets Pope
FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2015, file photo, in Mexico City, Catire Walker, 41, poses with his daughter Carmin, 3, and son Dimas, 8, in their 1980 Volkswagen van, which the family named Francisca. Walker and his wife Noel Zemborain piled their children into the van in March in Buenos Aires, Argentina,...   (Marco Ugarte)

Pope Francis has met with a family who made a 13,000-mile trip over 194 days from Argentina to Philadelphia in an old Volkswagen van. A Vatican spokesman says Francis met with Catire Walker and Noel Zemborain and their four children Sunday morning. Father Federico Lombardi says it was a very interesting moment and that the family's experience has touched the pope, who is from Argentina.

Walker and Zemborain quit their jobs in food service and marketing to lead their children on the unforgettable tour of the Americas. They made 12 border crossings to make it to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. The Vatican-sponsored conference is designed to strengthen family bonds. Francis will celebrate a Mass that organizers estimate will draw more than 1 million people to downtown Philadelphia. The pope met with victims of clerical sex abuse earlier Sunday, saying "God weeps." (More Pope Francis stories.)

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