Desperately Seeking Tickets

to See Pope Francis in New York City:

Disappointed and Down in the Dumps

New York City is the only place where every single event to see Pope Francis requires tickets. Who would have thought that getting to see a Pope was harder than trying to see a rock star? I've had better luck with Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, The Beatles, and many others. There was always a ticket to be found somewhere, somehow.

What is particularly disturbing is that some people entered the recent contest for tickets to the Central Park Event simply to obtain tickets to sell at outrageous prices for people who were desperate to see the Pope. Again, I've had better luck with rock stars.

There was only ONE way for an unchurched person like me to obtain a ticket: Enter the Central Park contest. Madison Square Garden was not giving or selling any tickets. Those were only for the faithful members of the various parishes around the city (understandably). Tickets for the Ground Zero event were only open to people who lived in the area or who were affected by 9/11 (again, understandably).

So, what's a person like me to do? I know of somebody who won and declined the tickets, not realizing that I would have been more than happy to relieve her of them. She found the security arrangements too onerous. I would have gone through that no matter what.

It's very disheartening that a Pope of the people is harder to even get a glimpse of than a rock star ever was. Seems like nothing has really changed except now that the head of the Catholic Church is totally inaccessible to people in New York City.

And they wonder why religion is flaming out over here? It's not just all the ideological things, although those play a major role. It's putting the Pope up on some pedestal and making us all feel worthless because we are not allowed in his presence.