In follow-up to the press release issued earlier today by the World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015:

Eighty-five percent of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is open to the public. 

The World Meeting of Families strove to keep the vast majority of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway open to the public while also ensuring that parishioners of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which is the host, could be part of this historic event.

Additionally, all World Meeting of Families Congress Participants, representing more than 100 countries, will also have access to the Festival of Families and the Papal Mass.

The following dioceses have received allotments for designated access for the Festival of Families and the Papal Mass:

• Pennsylvania
  • Allentown
  • Altoona-Johnstown
  • Erie
  • Greensburg
  • Harrisburg
  • Pittsburgh
  • Scranton
• New Jersey
  • Camden
  • Trenton
• Delaware
  • Wilmington

For Background Purposes:  All Papal events in the Archdiocese of New York are ticketed events, including the newly added procession through Central Park.  Ticketing is being conducted through Archdiocese of New York parishes with a smaller amount being provided to the neighboring dioceses as well as the City of New York.

All Papal events, being overseen by the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, are ticketed events.  Tickets for these events are distributed at the discretion of the Archdiocese of Washington, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic University of America. 

For more information regarding the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, visit www.WorldMeeting2015.org. You can also engage the World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia on Facebook (World Meeting of Families 2015) (Encuentro Mundial de las Familias – Filadelfia 2015), Twitter (@WMF2015) (@WMF2015ES) and Instagram (WMF2015).

###

About World Meetings of Families

Beginning with 1994, The Year of the Family, the Pontifical Council for the Family has been responsible for organizing the World Meetings of Families in Rome (1994); Rio de Janeiro (1997); Rome (2000); Manila (2003); Valencia (2006); Mexico City (2009); Milan (2012); and now, Philadelphia (2015).  Since its inception by Saint John Paul II, the World Meeting of Families has sought to strengthen the sacred bonds of family across the globe.