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POPETRIP-VENUES Nov-30-2007 (780 words) With POPETRIP-EVENTS and POPETRIP-TICKETS of Nov. 29. With photo. xxxn
Big, open spaces not an option for Washington, New York papal events
By Patricia Zapor
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's trip to the U.S. next spring brings a different kind of pope to a different environment in terms of security than when millions of people were able to participate in Masses celebrated by Pope John Paul II on his U.S. visits.
When Pope John Paul visited the United States in 1979, his weeklong trip included huge, open public Masses attended by hundreds of thousands of people at each venue, ranging from an Iowa farm field to Washington's National Mall.
The scenes were repeated when Pope John Paul returned for a multicity tour in 1987, celebrating liturgies in the New Orleans Superdome, a California racetrack, an empty San Antonio field and other huge spaces.
When Pope Benedict makes his first trip to the United States as pope April 15-20, the opportunities for the public to see him will be limited to Masses at two baseball stadiums in Washington and New York, with a capacity of probably no more than 45,000 and 65,000, respectively, and a rally for perhaps 15,000 youths and seminarians. Other events in both cities are invitation-only.
One reason the liturgies with Pope Benedict won't be on the National Mall or in Central Park is simply that neither locale was available, according to communications officials with the Washington and New York archdioceses.
Susan Gibbs, communications director for the Washington Archdiocese, said the pope's visit follows immediately after the city's National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Mall -- the expanse of lawn between the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol -- could not be booked.
For one thing, the National Park Service schedules time for the mall's grassy areas to recover after big events, especially in the spring, Gibbs told Catholic News Service. The time to construct a stage for an altar and the related spaces necessary for staging a Mass concelebrated by hundreds of priests also would have been a problem, she said.
Joseph Zwilling, communications director for the New York Archdiocese, said that "Central Park wasn't an option" for this papal visit.
As recently as 1995, Pope John Paul celebrated Mass in New York's Central Park, and it was attended by an estimated 250,000 people. Then, tickets were required for certain sections but the general public could walk up and participate in the liturgy from outside the Great Lawn, with the help of jumbo television screens.
But not long after that Mass, as well as some huge concerts on the Great Lawn, the city restored the well-trampled field and imposed new restrictions on how the space can be used, Zwilling told CNS. Papal Masses are no longer a possibility there.
The cost of a Mass on the Mall would have run into the millions of dollars, Gibbs said. A Washington Post report on the logistics of the 1979 Mass on the Mall estimated the cost to the city and the archdiocese at $1.9 million, or about $4.25 million in 2007 dollars. The archdiocese's share, about $400,000, would translate to more than $1.1 million today.
And those expenses included none of the contemporary security measures that such a Mass would require today, such as metal detectors and fencing to keep out people who haven't been screened.
Both Zwilling and Gibbs acknowledged that security is much easier to handle at a structure like a baseball stadium. When Pope John Paul first came to the United States, no tickets and no security checks were necessary to attend Masses on the Mall or in other open venues.
After a would-be assassin seriously wounded the pope during a public audience in St. Peter's Square in 1981, open events such as those on Pope John Paul's 1987 itinerary required people to have tickets and go through some security. Gibbs said security measures would need to be even more rigid after the 2001 terrorist attacks, especially in the cities of New York and Washington, both targets on Sept. 11, 2001.
Gibbs and Zwilling said the staffs at both baseball stadiums have been extraordinarily helpful in accommodating the demands of hosting Masses with the pope.
"We had considered several sites, including the Mall," Gibbs said. "The Nationals' stadium was our first choice. The building will be very new, and will have many of the services we would need already in place, including hospitality, security, seating, areas for priests to vest, an audio system and so on."
In addition, a new entrance to the Metro subway system a block away from the stadium, should be ready by opening day for the Major League Baseball season, two weeks before Pope Benedict arrives.
END
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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