The Bishop of Alicante Gifts Turrón to the Pope: "Your Holiness, This Doesn't Fatten!"

The Pope received a sweet gift from Alicante this Thursday. It was during the visit of the bishop of the diocese of Orihuela-Alicante, José Ignacio Munilla, to Rome when this meeting took place, in which His Holiness was presented with a product from the 'terreta'.

Thus, Munilla gave Pope Francis a wooden box filled with turrón from Xixona and Alicante. Amidst laughter, the Pope asked the Monsignor if these traditional sweets were fattening. Without hesitation, the bishop replied: "Your Holiness, the turrón from Alicante doesn't fatten!"

With this anecdote, Munilla's visit, along with a group of Valencian seminarians to Rome, concluded, where Pope Francis received them to converse. As a token of his affection, the bishop gifted His Holiness a piece of their rich gastronomic culture, enclosed in a beautiful wooden box, which they were able to present in person.

The bishop travelled to Rome with a group of seminarians from the ecclesiastical province of Valencia on January 29. There, they were able to share "two whole hours with the Pope," who answered the questions of those who sought his advice.

And he did so in an "endearing manner," as described by the bishop on his 'X' account. Monsignor wanted to highlight one of the stories shared by a seminarian, who told Pope Francis about his "suffering because his mother had not accepted his decision to go to the seminary, as she had dreamed of other paths for her son."

After hearing this Valencian's story, His Holiness recounted that he himself experienced "the same situation" and shared how his mother, despite being Catholic, opposed "Jorge Mario Bergoglio's vocation and refused to visit him in seminaries, but finally, on the day of his priestly ordination, she knelt and asked for his blessing."

In response to this story, the Pope advised the young man "prayer, tenderness, and patience." Later, a family photo was taken with all the seminarians at the Vatican.