“It certainly goes against everything that Pope Francis stands for”, fumed Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York.
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At 4 p.m. Wednesday, another 10,000 tickets were made available for the closing ceremonies for the World Meeting of Families, the Festival of Families celebration.
Another 10,000 tickets will be available Wednesday at 8 for the Pope’s September 27 Mass on the parkway.
The World Meeting of Families website redirected to an authentic EventBrite page where people could reserve real tickets on Wednesday. For those unlucky enough to secure tickets to papal appearances, 40 Jumbotron television screens will be set up within event perimeters and beyond.
Nearly immediately following the sellout, the free tickets began to pop up on secondary markets for as much as $500 apiece.
Philadelphia hotels say about a quarter of their rooms remain unsold for Pope Francis’ visit this month.
According to a report by St. Louis Today, free tickets for Pope Francis’ historic speech on religious freedom, immigration and the European migrant crisis are no longer available. It reads in part: “Papal tickets are never meant to be sold”. The festival will be held from 5 to 9:30 p.m. on September 26 at Eakins Oval.
Anyone can attend the two parkway events, but tickets are required to get spots in the front viewing section, within about 2 1/2 blocks of the stage or altar.
Tickets to the Central Park procession have been offered on eBay from $200 to $400.
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If your prayers were answered and you scored tickets this week to upcoming papal events in Philadelphia, take a deep breath and doublecheck your passes. Tickets to all of the events are hard to come by, including those for the pope’s visit to the nation’s capital.
