Pizza for the papacy! Pizzeria Don Ernesto employees caught wind that Pope Francis — just like Us! — was a pizza fan, so the Naples, Italy-based restaurant prepared a delivery fit for the religious leader.
The staff concocted a white pizza topped with cherry tomatoes and the Amalfi Coast's world-famous buffalo mozzarella. It was a custom pie created to match the colors of the Vatican: white and yellow. The only issue was delivering it to the Pope.
On Saturday, Mar. 21, while the Pope was riding along the Amalfi Coast in his Popemobile, the co-owner of Pizzeria Don Ernesto managed to pull it off. A YouTube video from the moment shows Enzo Cacialli climbing over a barricade to hand-deliver the pie to Pope Francis, who graciously accepts the pizza with both hands.
The religious leader recently said in an interview that while he enjoyed being the pope, he missed his low-key, pre-papal lifestyle, which allowed him to grab pizza whenever at local pizzerias.
Cacialli's business partner and restaurant co-owner Roberto Biscardi told NBC News that the moment was not a stunt. "We just wanted to give our passion for pizza to the pope," he insisted. "We are very religious here. And for us the pope is someone truly special."
Biscardi also told ABC News on Monday, Mar. 23, that the Pope had a sense of humor. "I think he was just joking," Biscardi told the network. "He said, 'Thank you.' How can I say in English … 'I'll have it later.'"