A baby from Ontario got some special attention from Pope Francis during a recent trip to the Vatican.

Four-month-old Henry was visiting Rome with his parents Tyler and Jessica Montague March when the family attended a papal audience.

The Cambridge, Ont. couple had joked about Henry possibly meeting the Pope during their visit to Rome.

"Everybody in Italy was giving Henry so much attention, they love babies there," Jessica Montague March told CTV News Channel on Friday. "So we kind of joked, 'Oh wouldn't it be funny if he met the Pope'."

While there were an estimated 13,000 people in St. Peter’s Square that day, when the Pope appeared onlookers started to push the family to the front of the crowd.

"They were yelling 'bambino, bambino', trying to push us up as if (Henry) was their own baby that was about to be blessed," Montague March said.

The new parents describe the moment that Henry was scooped up by a member of the Pope's security detail and handed off to the head of the Catholic Church as "surreal."

Plenty of onlookers were able to capture video and photos of the special encounter, which they sent to the family.

The couple says they're Christian, not Catholic, but they hold the Pope in high regard.

"I think Pope Francis is such a beautiful person," Montague March said.