'Divine Moment': baby kissed by Pope in Philadelphia sees brain tumor shrink! Do you believe in miracles? https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/divine-moment-baby-kissed-by-pope-in-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-do-you-believe-in-miracles <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Yes, I do! :)<br /><br />Call it the kiss of life.<br /><br />Joey Masciantonio vividly remembers the moment his baby daughter Gianna met Pope Francis in Philadelphia — because it almost never happened.<br /><br />Just hours before the pope&#39;s motorcade passed along Market Street to hundreds of thousands in downtown Philadelphia, Masciantonio was with his wife Kristen and their two children taking in a Saturday morning at their suburban home.<br /><br />That is until they received a call from a friend, Donny Asper — an FBI agent who was assigned along with hundreds of other security personnel to guard the pope&#39;s route — who told them to get downtown as soon as they could.<br /><br />He had secured them passes to see the pope.<br /><br />For Masciantonio and his wife Kristen, both devout Catholics, the opportunity to see the leader of their church was more than just a dream. They had long wanted their daughter Gianna — who suffers from juvenile xanthogranuloma, an extremely rare blood disorder that affects less than five children in the U.S. every year — to be blessed by Pope Francis.<br /><br />&quot;But we didn&#39;t actually expect that to happen,&quot; Masciantonio told NBC News.<br /><br />Gianna had a brain tumor and had undergone eight surgeries and numerous chemotherapy treatments at Philadelphia Children&#39;s Hospital in her 15 months of life.<br /><br />Doctors had told the family that she would likely not survive and advised her parents to enjoy the final months they had with their baby daughter.<br /><br />Due to her condition, Masciantonio initially resisted even going to the rally. Gianna&#39;s immune system had been so weakened by the treatments that he feared her condition would only further deteriorate amid the crowds.<br /><br />At his wife — and doctors&#39; — insistence, however, the decision was made to go.<br /><br />The family made it to the location near the historic James S. Byrne Courthouse on Market Street where the pope was due to pass right after his address at Independence Hall. Masciantonio says he held out Gianna as high as he could to get the attention of Philadelphia police and FBI agents, tipped off by Asper, to wave the Pope&#39;s motorcade over. When the Pope drove by, his security head Domenico Gianni spotted Masciantonio hoisting Gianna above his head and grabbed her. He brought her to the pontiff, who lunged forward to kiss Gianna on the head and grant her his blessing.<br /><br />&quot;It was the luck of the draw,&quot; said Masciantonio. &quot;We believe it was definitely a divine moment.&quot;<br /><br />The euphoria of the moment would not last long, however. Gianna still had two pending chemotherapy treatments and an MRI that would show if they were working. Last week, six weeks after her encounter with the Pope, Gianna&#39;s MRI results came back.<br /><br />The scans, Masciantonio said, showed that the tumor had shrunk significantly.<br /><br />&quot;It [tumor] was basically just a blush on the screen,&quot; he said. &quot;It was virtually invisible.&quot;<br /><br />The family, he says, was &quot;astonished&quot; by the progress. Doctors told them that, although the tumor had not been completely eradicated, the prognosis was life-changing: Gianna would likely survive.<br /><br />For her parents — who Masciantonio says had planned their daughter&#39;s funeral in advance of what they thought would be her inevitable premature death — the news was otherworldly.<br /><br />Some friends and family called it the &quot;Miracle on Market Street&quot; — attributing Gianna&#39;s remarkable turnaround to the kiss she had received from Pope Francis.<br /><br />For Masciantonio, however, the pope&#39;s kiss was not the miracle that saved Gianna&#39;s life or cured her.<br /><br />&quot;The kiss was God&#39;s work, that&#39;s for sure,&quot; said Masciantonio. &quot;But, the miracle was Him giving us the platform to reach those doctors who, ultimately, played a major role in saving Gianna&#39;s life.&quot; <br /><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/pope-francis-visits-america/divine-moment-baby-kissed-pope-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-n469751">http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/pope-francis-visits-america/divine-moment-baby-kissed-pope-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-n469751</a> <div class="pta-link-card answers-template-image type-default"> <div class="pta-link-card-picture"> <img src="https://d26horl2n8pviu.cloudfront.net/link_data_pictures/images/000/030/290/qrc/pope_9a2a043ffae797cc59cc685edad8d9bb.nbcnews-fp-1200-800.jpg?1448503971"> </div> <div class="pta-link-card-content"> <p class="pta-link-card-title"> <a target="blank" href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/pope-francis-visits-america/divine-moment-baby-kissed-pope-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-n469751">&#39;Divine Moment&#39;: Baby Kissed by Pope in Philadelphia Sees Brain Tumor Shrink</a> </p> <p class="pta-link-card-description">Joey Masciantonio vividly remembers the moment his baby daughter Gianna met Pope Francis because it almost never happened.</p> </div> <div class="clearfix"></div> </div> Wed, 25 Nov 2015 21:12:52 -0500 'Divine Moment': baby kissed by Pope in Philadelphia sees brain tumor shrink! Do you believe in miracles? https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/divine-moment-baby-kissed-by-pope-in-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-do-you-believe-in-miracles <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Yes, I do! :)<br /><br />Call it the kiss of life.<br /><br />Joey Masciantonio vividly remembers the moment his baby daughter Gianna met Pope Francis in Philadelphia — because it almost never happened.<br /><br />Just hours before the pope&#39;s motorcade passed along Market Street to hundreds of thousands in downtown Philadelphia, Masciantonio was with his wife Kristen and their two children taking in a Saturday morning at their suburban home.<br /><br />That is until they received a call from a friend, Donny Asper — an FBI agent who was assigned along with hundreds of other security personnel to guard the pope&#39;s route — who told them to get downtown as soon as they could.<br /><br />He had secured them passes to see the pope.<br /><br />For Masciantonio and his wife Kristen, both devout Catholics, the opportunity to see the leader of their church was more than just a dream. They had long wanted their daughter Gianna — who suffers from juvenile xanthogranuloma, an extremely rare blood disorder that affects less than five children in the U.S. every year — to be blessed by Pope Francis.<br /><br />&quot;But we didn&#39;t actually expect that to happen,&quot; Masciantonio told NBC News.<br /><br />Gianna had a brain tumor and had undergone eight surgeries and numerous chemotherapy treatments at Philadelphia Children&#39;s Hospital in her 15 months of life.<br /><br />Doctors had told the family that she would likely not survive and advised her parents to enjoy the final months they had with their baby daughter.<br /><br />Due to her condition, Masciantonio initially resisted even going to the rally. Gianna&#39;s immune system had been so weakened by the treatments that he feared her condition would only further deteriorate amid the crowds.<br /><br />At his wife — and doctors&#39; — insistence, however, the decision was made to go.<br /><br />The family made it to the location near the historic James S. Byrne Courthouse on Market Street where the pope was due to pass right after his address at Independence Hall. Masciantonio says he held out Gianna as high as he could to get the attention of Philadelphia police and FBI agents, tipped off by Asper, to wave the Pope&#39;s motorcade over. When the Pope drove by, his security head Domenico Gianni spotted Masciantonio hoisting Gianna above his head and grabbed her. He brought her to the pontiff, who lunged forward to kiss Gianna on the head and grant her his blessing.<br /><br />&quot;It was the luck of the draw,&quot; said Masciantonio. &quot;We believe it was definitely a divine moment.&quot;<br /><br />The euphoria of the moment would not last long, however. Gianna still had two pending chemotherapy treatments and an MRI that would show if they were working. Last week, six weeks after her encounter with the Pope, Gianna&#39;s MRI results came back.<br /><br />The scans, Masciantonio said, showed that the tumor had shrunk significantly.<br /><br />&quot;It [tumor] was basically just a blush on the screen,&quot; he said. &quot;It was virtually invisible.&quot;<br /><br />The family, he says, was &quot;astonished&quot; by the progress. Doctors told them that, although the tumor had not been completely eradicated, the prognosis was life-changing: Gianna would likely survive.<br /><br />For her parents — who Masciantonio says had planned their daughter&#39;s funeral in advance of what they thought would be her inevitable premature death — the news was otherworldly.<br /><br />Some friends and family called it the &quot;Miracle on Market Street&quot; — attributing Gianna&#39;s remarkable turnaround to the kiss she had received from Pope Francis.<br /><br />For Masciantonio, however, the pope&#39;s kiss was not the miracle that saved Gianna&#39;s life or cured her.<br /><br />&quot;The kiss was God&#39;s work, that&#39;s for sure,&quot; said Masciantonio. &quot;But, the miracle was Him giving us the platform to reach those doctors who, ultimately, played a major role in saving Gianna&#39;s life.&quot; <br /><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/pope-francis-visits-america/divine-moment-baby-kissed-pope-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-n469751">http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/pope-francis-visits-america/divine-moment-baby-kissed-pope-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-n469751</a> <div class="pta-link-card answers-template-image type-default"> <div class="pta-link-card-picture"> <img src="https://d26horl2n8pviu.cloudfront.net/link_data_pictures/images/000/030/290/qrc/pope_9a2a043ffae797cc59cc685edad8d9bb.nbcnews-fp-1200-800.jpg?1448503971"> </div> <div class="pta-link-card-content"> <p class="pta-link-card-title"> <a target="blank" href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/pope-francis-visits-america/divine-moment-baby-kissed-pope-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-n469751">&#39;Divine Moment&#39;: Baby Kissed by Pope in Philadelphia Sees Brain Tumor Shrink</a> </p> <p class="pta-link-card-description">Joey Masciantonio vividly remembers the moment his baby daughter Gianna met Pope Francis because it almost never happened.</p> </div> <div class="clearfix"></div> </div> MSgt Curtis Ellis Wed, 25 Nov 2015 21:12:52 -0500 2015-11-25T21:12:52-05:00 Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Nov 25 at 2015 9:18 PM https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/divine-moment-baby-kissed-by-pope-in-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-do-you-believe-in-miracles?n=1132881&urlhash=1132881 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I have sat on the top of a mountain and talked with a man 150 miles away at 30,000 feet altitude, doing over Mach 1, just as easily as I talk to my wife across the table. So yes, I do believe in miracles. Capt Seid Waddell Wed, 25 Nov 2015 21:18:52 -0500 2015-11-25T21:18:52-05:00 Response by Capt Mark Strobl made Nov 25 at 2015 10:19 PM https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/divine-moment-baby-kissed-by-pope-in-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-do-you-believe-in-miracles?n=1132960&urlhash=1132960 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Until the medical staff at Philadelphia's Children's Hospital can provide an explanation, I'll vote for "miracle." Faith can be pretty damned powerful... especially when it's all you have left. Capt Mark Strobl Wed, 25 Nov 2015 22:19:23 -0500 2015-11-25T22:19:23-05:00 Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Nov 25 at 2015 10:26 PM https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/divine-moment-baby-kissed-by-pope-in-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-do-you-believe-in-miracles?n=1132966&urlhash=1132966 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>He is a Pretty Awesome Dude the Pope. Don't know if I really believe in Miracles though despite my Catholic Upbringing. Know that there is still plenty that we don't understand though. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Wed, 25 Nov 2015 22:26:34 -0500 2015-11-25T22:26:34-05:00 Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Nov 26 at 2015 11:15 AM https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/divine-moment-baby-kissed-by-pope-in-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-do-you-believe-in-miracles?n=1133595&urlhash=1133595 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I do believe in miracles. With God, anything is possible. The Pope has no miracle dispensing gifts. He is not a deity. A very pious man and the leader of the catholic church but still a man. Cpl Jeff N. Thu, 26 Nov 2015 11:15:26 -0500 2015-11-26T11:15:26-05:00 Response by MSgt Michelle Mondia made Nov 27 at 2015 12:54 AM https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/divine-moment-baby-kissed-by-pope-in-philadelphia-sees-brain-tumor-shrink-do-you-believe-in-miracles?n=1134802&urlhash=1134802 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Let's have him kiss 10,000 Syrian refugees and see if it miraculously ends a civil war. I believe. But it's not a side show...if God can dole out miracles but avoids ending war and poverty I call BS. Faith aside...the miracle is being human and walking on the earth. We want to look right past each other to God when it's been us saving one another all along. I don't discredit any of this but we can do miraculous things just by having empathy and compassion for one another. MSgt Michelle Mondia Fri, 27 Nov 2015 00:54:47 -0500 2015-11-27T00:54:47-05:00 2015-11-25T21:12:52-05:00