Girl losing her vision gets chance to see pope

An East Patchogue girl at risk of losing her eyesight will get to see the pope, thanks to a Long Island congressman. Louisa Taitt, 9, is progressively growing blind. She says her dream is to meet Pope

News 12 Staff

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Sep 17, 2015, 2:38 AM

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Updated 3,393 days ago

An East Patchogue girl at risk of losing her eyesight will get to see the pope, thanks to a Long Island congressman.

Louisa Taitt, 9, is progressively growing blind. She says her dream is to meet Pope Francis.

Rep. Lee Zeldin surprised the girl at her church, Saint Joseph the Worker in East Patchogue, with an invitation to meet Pope Francis in Washington, D.C.

"I can't think of anyone better to see and watch the pope with me," Zeldin told Louisa. "Would you accept my invitation to come to Washington and see the pope?"

"Yes I do," the little girl replied.

Louisa's mother had asked the parish priest about the visit with the pope.

"I can't even believe it," said Joan Taitt. "I've written letters. I was just hoping someone would understand."

Zeldin said that the difficulty Louisa is facing helped him make the decision to invite her.

"Each member of Congress gets one ticket for the gallery to bring a guest," Zeldin said after meeting Louisa. "We received a note from the father here...from a religious family and in need of a miracle."

Louisa has only about half of her vision. A gray cloud obscures the rest.