CBCP: No tickets being sold for papal visit

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday denied that tickets are being sold for events during Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to the country in January next year.

Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, told CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas in a letter dated July 8 that the Apostolic Nunciature’s attention “has been drawn to a very unpleasant information” about some groups “already selling tickets” for the papal visit.

“It is regrettable that some cabal might wish to take advantage of the papal visit to exploit innocent people and enrich themselves,” Pinto noted in his letter which was sent to the CBCP only yesterday.

Pinto called on Villegas to “announce to the Filipino people that no tickets will be sold for any of the papal gatherings” and to “use every possible channel of the CBCP” and its media facilities to inform everyone.

Pinto also said that the CBCP should “persuade people to desist from purchasing such tickets.”

CBCP media office director Monsignor Pedro Quitorio III yesterday said that the tickets being sold were spurious.

“How can there be tickets for the pope’s visit when there has been no announcement as to the exact date of his visit and the places where he would go to?” Quitorio added.

It was reported that Pope Francis was interested to visit the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda, but Quitorio doubted that the tickets were being sold in areas affected by the storm since many typhoon survivors were still rebuilding their lives.

The CBCP also said that those wanting to get the latest news about the papal visit could download the CBCPNews app, which would be available in two weeks. The application would be available for download on Android phones and from the iPhone App Store.