"To see him today, in the final hours of his papacy, and to have him hold my son in his arms was a special kind of blessing and a consolation from the Lord," Jenny Uebbing, the mother of the fortunate infant, John Paul, told Catholic News Agency on Feb. 27, following the family’s attendance at Pope Benedict XVI’s final general audience.

On her blog, Mama Needs Coffee, she described three hours of "pressing crowds and stalwartly holding our position against the barricade, hoping against hope to catch a glimpse of our beloved Holy Father."

Dave Uebbing, John Paul’s father and office head of CNA’s Rome bureau, described how "a security guard offered to pass him to Archbishop Ganswein when the popemobile came by."

Jenny recalls the moments after Benedict kissed John Paul: "We locked eyes for a moment, and I was able to tell him, ‘Thank you.’ That was all I could have asked for: to personally thank him, not only for the moment of grace when he kissed my little son, but for his total gift of self to the Church," she said.

Dave told CNA that "my wife and I were overjoyed at the Pope’s kindness and the gentle love you could see on his face when he kissed John Paul."

"For a child of only 10 months, John Paul already has quite the papal connections," CNA reported. "Aside from being kissed on the forehead by the vicar of Christ, he was named for Pope Benedict’s predecessor. Also, he was born on April 19, 2012, the seventh anniversary of Pope Benedict’s election as bishop of Rome."