Sydney newlyweds James Lu and Fiona Choi presented Pope Leo XVI with an Akubra hat earlier this month. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The couple joined an audience with the Pope dressed in their wedding day attire as sposi novelli and delighted everyone present when they gave him the Aussie staple.
“It was surreal, we weren’t sure if he was going to accept the gift,” Mr Lu said.
He said it “can’t get more Australian” than the hat they chose, which was made of kangaroo leather, fur felt, and had an opal embedded on the side of the hatband.
The couple had seen images of the Pope receiving hats, often baseball caps, and decided to take him an iconic hat from Down Under.
Mr Lu tried to work out Pope Leo’s hat size by analysing photos of him and ended up guessing a little too small. He now reckons it is probably 58.
“Being the good sport that he is, he put it on and the entire audience hall went up in uproarious applause and cheering,” Mr Lu said.
The couple woke up early on August 14 to meet the Pope and donned their full wedding outfits.
Mr Lu said despite the pair being nervous about the meeting, Pope Leo made them “really feel at ease.”
“He was very gentle, he had a very kindly demeanour,” he said. “He has made it a point that he tries to greet as many people as possible and to give all the newlyweds there the time that he did.”
FULL STORY
Sydney couple raise the roof with Pope Leo hat trick (By Tara Kennedy, The Catholic Weekly)
