Christopher Maffuccio of Lenox, Massachusetts, was twice blessed when he went to Rome on a Jubilee Year pilgrimage in August 2025. He not only got to see Pope Leo XIV — he met the Pope twice. The first time was on Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption.
It was a banner meeting for 28-year-old Maffuccio, who has spina bifida, a congenital neural tube defect that can affect motor ability and characterized by other neurological symptoms. “It was my first international trip and I traveled on the airplane alone,” he said.
“For me, the highlight was not the travel, but a moment I had dreamed of since childhood — meeting the Pope,” he said, describing his experience that day for the Mass and Angelus at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s residence outside of Rome. There, he met his friend Matthew Burkle from Great Barrington, Massachusetts, who was already in Rome.
“Because of my disability, I was seated far in the back in the disabled section, and the chance to speak with the Pope seemed impossible,” Maffuccio recounted to the Register. But when the Holy Father was in sight, Maffuccio described how he “called out, ‘Papa Leone, Papa Leone’ — because I speak Italian — ‘Holy Father, I am from the United States!’ He turned, looked at me twice, directly in the eyes. He made the Sign of the Cross and gave me a blessing from afar (and gave me his blessing) twice.”
“After the Mass, Pope Leo came over to the disabled section,” Maffuccio continued. “But because I was in the back, I didn’t get to see him, to give him the request.”
Maffuccio’s main priority was to request “a papal dispensation so that I could become a religious brother.” Presently, he is having difficulty because of his condition.
“My friend Will Degaramo, who was also traveling with us, said to me, ‘We’re probably not going to be able to see the Pope.’ I saw a bishop (from Castel Gandolfo) from afar, and I went over to him, and I humbly explained to him that I would like to speak to the Pope if it was possible. To my amazement, he said to me, ‘Come, come.’ He put me right in front of the podium where the Pope was going to give his Angelus address.”
After his address, Pope Leo “came over and he asked me where I was from,” Maffuccio said. “I told him and I gave him the request, and we got our picture taken. And then he gave me a pair of rosary beads.” Christopher did not tell Leo what his request was about but just handed the written request “to his bodyguard.”
Christopher Maffuccio (left) and his friend Will Degaramo get a special photo with Pope Leo on Aug. 15, 2025. (Photo: Courtesy of Christopher Maffuccio)
“Standing before Pope Leo XIV, I felt the weight of years of prayer and hope,” he said, reflecting on that first meeting. “I was able to exchange words with him and personally deliver my written request. It was truly wonderful. That meeting was more than a dream fulfilled — it was a living sign of hope and proof that, with God, all things are possible.”
The surprising second meeting came within a week, on Aug. 20. As Maffuccio related the event, “I was just going to tour the Vatican. I met a sister there from Mexico, and she brought me to the inside of the Vatican and got me past security. She told me, ‘The Pope is going to be coming.’” It was for his Wednesday general audience. “They put me again right up in front of the main altar of St. Peter’s. And Pope Leo came over, and again he gave me a pair of rosary beads, and he gave me his blessing. And we took a picture the second time!”
Thus far, Maffuccio has not received a response to his request. But he has since contacted both of the Pope’s brothers “just to see if they can basically put a bug in his ear,” reminiscent of the Gospel story of the Syrophoenician woman’s request of Jesus.
His friends are happy for the blessings thus far.
“For my friend Christopher to actually be able to complete his mission of hand-delivering his letter to Pope Leo brought us both great joy,” Degaramo told the Register. “We managed with the help of Christopher’s fluent Italian to have the local bishop let us through the barricade so that this opportunity was made possible. Pope Leo was very kind and took the time to meet with everyone in that area, including us. A day I will never forget!”
Burkle agreed. He said, “The whole trip was grace-filled, but that day was particularly special. It was so amazing to see one of Christopher’s lifelong dreams come true. The moment Chris met the Pope, I was filled with so much joy. From Castel Gandolfo, we continued on to Abbazia di Montecassino. Lord willing, we will be able to make that trip again someday.” In the meantime, Maffuccio is cherishing his Italian trip.
He was also able to visit cousins who are his grandparents’ relatives in Calabria and met up with friends Burkle and Degaramo for the trip to Naples, Salerno and Pompeii to the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii. It was “a dream to go there, too,” he recalled.
Overcoming Difficulties
The road to Rome has been paved with obstacles that Maffuccio has overcome since birth. “Imagine a newly converted Catholic mother Laurie and a devout father Anthony who, upon learning they are expecting, are told, ‘Your child will never walk or talk and will be a vegetable,’” he said. Doctors advised abortion. “My mother responded with conviction: ‘We are done here. I accept whatever God gives me.’”
Christopher was born prematurely, at 30 weeks, weighing just 2 pounds, 12 ounces. When he was discharged from the hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts, his parents brought him to church. As they were praying, Sisters of Notre Dame came over to his parents, and, he recounted, “took me and they placed me on top of the altar, and they prayed over me and consecrated me to God. So I strongly believe that that’s where my vocation started.”
Christopher was born prematurely, weighing just 2 pounds, 12 ounces.(Photo: Courtesy of Christopher Maffuccio )
But the road became rougher. On Nov. 2, 2010, his life and independence would be changed forever. At this point he was able to walk with only braces. But that day, orthopedic surgery on both legs was unsuccessful. “When I woke up from the anesthesia, I was petrified because I couldn’t feel both my legs at all.”
There was no improvement with time, and a doctor unsympathetically and callously told him and his parents he would be in a wheelchair “forever” because the operation was a “failed procedure.”
Maffuccio added, “My life is a testimony that God’s plan is greater than human predictions.” He walks with a walker — though he used his power scooter at the Vatican, due to the long distances. “Other than that, I walk daily with the walker and can perform the duties of daily living independently,” he said.
Devotee of Mother Angelica
“I’m very strongly devoted to Mother Angelica,” Maffuccio said. “I’ve been devoted to her since I was a child,” adding that he considers himself “an extended family member” of EWTN and a spiritual son of Mother Angelica.
How did his devotion begin? “One day when I was scrolling through the channels on TV with my mom, I found this Catholic TV station, and it was the daily Mass. Then I started watching it.” Once he discovered the EWTN channel, he then learned about the foundress.
“Mother Angelica had a very similar background to me,” he said. “We’re both Italian. Her childhood was not very good. And I have my own childhood trauma.”
He was also drawn to Mother Anglica “because of her debilitation after suffering an accident and having to use crutches and braces for several decades.”
His devotion is deep. “Everybody who I’ve spoken to told me to keep praying to her” for her intercession for healing.
He has “implored her intercession for a complete physical healing from my spina bifida so I can prayerfully and obediently discern God’s call to me and follow whatever vocation he summons me to freely,” he said.
He has even composed a novena to her for this purpose. “I want to become a brother. It’s a calling that I’ve experienced since I was a child. And, unfortunately, I’m facing some severe challenges to accomplish that because of my spina bifida.” But trust in God and love for the Blessed Mother keep him working away, just as Mother Angelica did.
He likes to share this quote from Mother Angelia: “Unless you are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous.”
Although the novena he composed is not official but considered a private novena, he has had prayer cards made up and shared them with permission at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he has worked as a provisional administrative assistant the past four years. He responds to various emails that people send to the shrine. He also does the transcription for the EWTN show Living Divine Mercy, hosted by Father Chris Alar, and volunteers frequently on the Divine Mercy prayer line.
Given his deep devotion to Mother Angelica, Maffuccio has been on pilgrimage to EWTN’s headquarters in Irondale, Alabama, three times. The first time was on Jan. 21, 2022, with Father Alar, and Maffuccio assisted the televised Mass as an altar server.
The following year, 2023, he also visited for the EWTN Family Celebration and served the televised Mass, also with Father Alar. He then went to the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville for the shrine’s 25th anniversary celebration on Dec. 19, 2024, marking the dedication of Mother Angelica’s monastery and shrine.
Christopher Maffuccio visits the tomb of Mother Angelica at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.(Photo: Courtesy of Christopher Maffuccio)
“It was wonderful just to be able to go to Mother Angelica’s tomb. “It was truly a blessed experience and one I will never forget in my faith journey,” Maffuccio said.
Cardinal Raymond Burke celebrated the anniversary Mass, and Maffuccio was able to speak with the cardinal and receive his blessing.
Christopher Maffuccio and Cardinal Raymond Burke at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama(Photo: Courtesy of Christopher Maffuccio)
Reflecting on his visit for the anniversary, Maffuccio shared, “Seeing the shrine flourish 25 years later showed me just how much Mother Angelica really loved Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament and how committed she was to building a Temple where anyone can come to embrace the Risen Lord Jesus. It demonstrated once again her unwavering trust in his plan for her life.”
It is what Maffuccio has learned to do also. He does not believe he would have endured all that he has without his faith.
As he explained, “Should I just accept that this is where God has placed me today? The conclusion I have come to is that this must be his will and this had happened for a reason. Right now, God wants to work through me through my suffering. While I do not understand it completely now, someday I will. It will all make perfect sense then!”