Archdiocese Allocates An Undisclosed Number Of Tickets To Papal Events To Local Parishes
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Before the announcement of online opportunities for public papal event opportunities, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia allocated an undisclosed number to tickets to parishes and various organizations.
The archdiocese was leaving it up to the parish on how the tickets will be distributed. The number made available to them depended on the number of families in the parish.
St Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Ambler was allocated 224 standing room tickets to both the Festival of Families and the Papal Mass.
A list of request for tickets is being compiled says Monsignor Stephen McHenry the pastor of St. Anthony's.
"We said that we would try to accommodate whatever your request was, but there was no guarantee for that and if you were requesting a lot of tickets we can absolutely guarantee you were not getting a lot of tickets.
Monsignor McHenry says first there will be tickets set aside for 25 visiting Jordanian Catholics being hosted by the parish as well as some for the parish's growing Hispanic community.
The remainder will be distributed among the other parishioners.