King Baudouin Stadium is too small for Pope's Mass in Brussels
The demand for tickets for Pope Francis' Mass at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels in September is exceeding the 35,000 seats currently available. On 29 September, the Pope will conclude a visit to Belgium with a multilingual Mass at the stadium.
The pope will visit Belgium from 26-29 September and will travel to Brussels, Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve. On the last morning of his visit, he will preside over a Mass at the King Baudouin Stadium.
The free seats for individual requests were made available last Monday and were all booked in less than two hours. Even for parishes and church movements, which could register groups of up to 50 people, the demand appears to have exceeded the supply.
Worldwide broadcast
One-third of the tickets were reserved for people with limited mobility. These too were all gone in a few hours. A fourth allocated share is for young people aged up to 30 who are taking part in Hope Happening, the youth festival organised at Heysel in Brussels on the occasion of the papal visit. 7,500 places have been reserved for this.
Besides requests from Belgian dioceses, there were also applications from France, the Netherlands and Germany. Due to the rush, the organisers of the papal visit decided to limit groups to 50 places.
Places that become available will first be allocated to parishes and church movements with groups of 50 people, preferably coming by bus. With additional screens in the stadium, the organisation also plans to create 1,000 additional places. If tickets are still available afterwards, they will be offered through Ticketmaster on 12 September at 10.00.
Parishes without access to the stadium can organise a broadcast on a big screen in their church. The Mass will also be broadcast worldwide.
#FlandersNewsService | Pope Francis during his weekly General Audience in Saint Peter's Square, 28 August 2024 © PHOTO ALESSIA GIULIANI / CPP / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
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