Pain In The Mass Leads Some Not To Bother

Brokers find Papal Mass to be a weak draw:

Tight security at Pope Benedict XVI’s April 20 mass at Yankee Stadium is keeping some Staten Islanders from seeking the limited number of tickets available, and providing another reminder of how life in New York City has changed since the terror attacks of 2001.

Those hoping to attend the 2:30 p.m. mass have to commit to at least a 10-hour day and arrive at their parishes before 8:30 a.m. to board buses. No private cars will be allowed into the Stadium parking lot. Even the priests who will celebrate mass with the pope and serve communion in the stands will travel by bus.

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The lower-than-anticipated demand for tickets made it easier on pastors, who weren’t looking forward to disappointing their parishioners.

St. Adalbert’s Church in Elm Park planned to hold a lottery drawing last Wednesday night to distribute its 22 tickets. Each name pulled from the pot would receive two tickets. But with only 10 parishioners showing up, no one went home empty-handed.

“I was hoping it would work out this way,” said the Rev. Eugene Carella, pastor. “This way people who really, really, really wanted it were here tonight and they got them. And there were no hard feelings, so that’s good.”

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Some parishes, like St. Christopher’s in Grant City, with 41 tickets, found the demand equaled the supply, and, as of Wednesday, Our Lady Star of the Sea in Huguenot still had 57 tickets available from its allotment of 143. Monsignor Jeffrey Conway, pastor of Star of the Sea, said any unclaimed tickets would be returned to the archdiocese and reapportioned to other parishes.

Older parishioners and those without the proper documentation have decided not to pursue tickets “after we explained what they’ll be getting into,” said the Rev. Michael Flynn, pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Port Richmond and Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Benedicta in West Brighton.