So I don’t know how many people may have obtained tickets through that bad site and exactly how this happened.
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When Pope Francis visits Philadelphia later this month for the World Meeting of Families, several hundred local Roman Catholics will be on hand to celebrate Mass with him.
According to the Inquirer, it took 30 seconds for the 10,000 mass tickets to be claimed.
In Philadelphia on September 26 and 27, there are three alternatives to see the pope, together with at a speech about immigration and non secular freedom he’ll give at.
You can now purchase your official World Meeting of Families 2015 souvenirs in Philadelphia.
Now, scalpers are trying to turn the tickets into an opportunity. But Action News reported that someone created a phony pope event on the same website to sell fake tickets.
By 12:04, the ticket page said “unavailable” and that “all tickets are with other customers”. A separate set of tickets were being distributed to the 219 parishes in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, as well as surrounding parishes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
Sellers and their crass ads soon began to multiply like loaves and fishes.
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.
There are also 10,000 tickets for each day that will be made available to the general public. “Papal tickets are never meant to be sold”.
Officials said Friday hotels are slashing rates, skipping minimum stay requirements and tossing in extras like subway tokens and bags full of snacks to lure guests for the September 26-27 visit.
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Kenneth A. Gavin, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said it was “shameful” and “reprehensible” to scalp tickets for papal events.
