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“We Saw Him for Just Three Seconds”: The Family Who Travelled 1,000 Kilometres With Four Young Children to Meet Pope Leo XIV
Eugenia Irañeta and her husband, Ignacio Ibarzábal, travelled from Mendoza to Buenos Aires with their four children, aged between one and six, to attend a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV. Amid football-style chants, exhaustion, unexpected acts of kindness and a fleeting glimpse of the Pope, they experienced something far greater than a brief encounter.
INTERVIEW | CHURCH IN ARGENTINA | POPE LEO XIV
Ana Paula Morales (Poli)
11/12/20265 min read
Eugenia and Ignacio Ibarzábal with one of their children during Pope Leo XIV’s Mass in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo: Courtesy of the family.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A 1,000-kilometre journey, four young children, hours of waiting and just three seconds as the popemobile passed by.
For Eugenia Irañeta, an Argentine mother who travelled from Mendoza with her husband and their four children to see Pope Leo XIV, those few seconds were enough to make the entire journey worthwhile.
“Ever since I was a little girl, my parents passed on to me the love for the Pope that they had learned from St. Josemaría. I thought it would be wonderful to pass some of that love on to my own children,” Eugenia told Press Crux.
When the Pope's visit to Argentina was announced, Eugenia and her husband, Ignacio Ibarzábal, whom she affectionately calls Nacho, began making plans to travel to Buenos Aires.
They wanted to share the experience with Sara, six; Juan, five; Isidro, three; and Rito, just one year old.
The decision was not without hesitation. Travelling with four small children, navigating enormous crowds and waiting for hours was hardly an easy undertaking.
“At times I wondered whether bringing all four of them was really a good idea, especially when I thought about the long waits, the crowds and how tired they would get,” she admitted.
But there was something more important behind their decision. Eugenia wanted her children to experience something she herself had received growing up: a love for the Pope and a sense of belonging to the universal Church.
“Being close to the Pope is also a way of feeling closer to Jesus,” she explained.
Football chants, tears and naps in the crowd
On November 9, the day Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass near the Monumento de los Españoles in Buenos Aires, the family woke up at 5:30 a.m. By six, they were already on their way.
They packed water, food, caps and everything they thought they might need to get through the day with four young children.
The children's grandparents, who live in Buenos Aires, joined them. For Eugenia, sharing the occasion across three generations made it even more meaningful.
The atmosphere was festive. Music filled the air as pilgrims sang and shouted, “Long live the Pope!”
At one point, one of Eugenia's sons began chanting for Pope Leo as though he were cheering on his favourite football team. People standing nearby enthusiastically joined in.
“There was such a festive atmosphere, and the children were so happy, despite being tired and having waited for so many hours,” she recalled.
There were tears, sibling squabbles, distractions and improvised naps in the middle of the crowd. In many ways, it was an ordinary day with four small children — except that they were surrounded by thousands of pilgrims waiting for the Pope.
A stranger's sunscreen and a spontaneous act of solidarity
Some of Eugenia's most lasting memories have little to do with the moment she actually saw Leo XIV.
She was struck by the kindness of strangers.
Having forgotten to bring sunscreen, she was immediately offered some by a woman standing nearby. Other people shared biscuits with the children or checked to make sure they were all right.
Then, shortly before the Pope was due to arrive, a woman fainted in the crowd.
Those around her immediately began calling for help.
“What struck me most was that, after waiting for so many hours, helping her might have meant missing the very moment everyone had come for. And yet everyone immediately became concerned about her,” Eugenia said.
She also met a young man who had travelled from Chaco with his mother specifically to see the Pope.
For Eugenia, these encounters revealed something she hoped her children would come to understand: the universality of the Church.
People from different provinces, generations and backgrounds, many of whom would otherwise never have met, had come together to share the same joy.
Three seconds beside the popemobile
Eventually, after hours of waiting, the moment everyone had been hoping for arrived.
The popemobile swept past the place where the family was standing.
“I think we saw him for barely three seconds, but the children's joy at seeing him was enormous,” Eugenia recalled.
Their reaction stayed with her.
“If you think about it rationally, it doesn't make much sense to travel a thousand kilometres, wait for so many hours and end up so happy just because you've seen someone for a few seconds.”
But, for Eugenia, the explanation lay in what that encounter represented.
“For us, the Pope is not simply an important person, but the Vicar of Christ on earth. And it moved me to see how the children, even though they're so young and don't fully understand what that means, could experience such great joy.”
When the Pope spoke about family life
Another moment moved Eugenia just as deeply.
During Mass, as she tried to keep her four children close, stop them from wandering off and manage the usual challenges of being out all day with little ones, she began listening to Pope Leo XIV's words.
He was speaking about families.
In his November 9 homily, the Pontiff emphasised the importance of the home as a place where faith is passed from one generation to the next.
He spoke about the simple gestures of everyday family life: praying with children, teaching them to ask forgiveness, listening to one another and attending Sunday Mass together.
He also encouraged Argentine families to take an active role in evangelisation.
Eugenia listened while her children ran around, became distracted, argued and grew increasingly tired.
“I remember feeling deeply moved,” she said.
The scene made her reflect on how family life does not have to be perfect to become a place of encounter with God.
Amid the noise, exhaustion and everyday concerns, the Pope's words seemed to speak directly to her.
“I thought that it was precisely there, in the midst of all that commotion, in the chaos and also the joy of family life, that Jesus waits for us every day.”
For Eugenia, the journey had been worth every effort.
It was not simply about the three seconds beside the popemobile. It was about her children's songs, the kindness of strangers, the sight of thousands of people praying together and the opportunity to share an experience of faith as a family.
Above all, she had witnessed something deeply personal: the love for the Pope that her own parents had passed on to her, inspired by the teachings of St. Josemaría Escrivá, was beginning to take root in the lives of her four children.
This article was translated from Spanish with AI assistance and reviewed by the Press Crux editorial team. Read the original in Spanish.
