Online Tickets to Pope's Mass Are Illegal

WASHINGTON - Buyer beware, if you are logging onto the Internet in the hope of buying tickets to the see the pope at Nationals Park.

Buying and selling tickets for the mass off eBay or Craigslist is illegal.

Georgina Stark, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Washington, tells WTOP, "You cannot sell a sacrament. This is a mass, so it is a sacrament. The tickets are not for sale."

Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington, says the archdiocese has sent out several cease and desist letters to online sellers over the last week.

"The vast majority of people are using their tickets," Gibbs says.

"The very few who are possibly trying to buy them are hearing from us. The tickets are non-transferable. Any sale, trade or transfer is unlawful because they are the property of the archdiocese."

Every ticket for the mass will be tied to a name, and each adult wanting to get in will have to show a government-issued ID.

"Tickets are traceable," Stark says.

"We do keep track of who has what ticket. If we do suspect a ticket has been sold or has not gotten it the right way, then we can cancel that ticket and they will not be allowed in the stadium."

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