Archdiocese Seeks Volunteers For Pope’s Visit

The archdiocese of Philadelphia is seeking some ten thousand volunteers for Pope Francis’ visit to the city in September. This was announced by Archbishop Charles Caput in his weekly column. Pope Francis is visiting Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, which will be held September 22nd – 27th. The pope will be celebrating the Meeting with a huge mass to be held on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. To put what sounds like a massive number in perspective, the city of London required 70,000 volunteers when the Summer Olympics were held there.

Pope Francis wants you – and 9,999 others – to volunteer for the World Meeting of Families.

Volunteers for the event must be at least 18 years old and able to pass an online background check. They will receive training on the specific task(s) they are assigned, which will depend on needs and talents. Volunteers are required to pay for their own transportation to Philadelphia (if they don’t live there already), and the World Meeting of Families spelled out specifically that volunteers will not get the chance to meet the Pope personally. Volunteers can sign up at the World Meeting website, worldmeeting2015.org.

Amassing a tremendous volunteer force isn’t the only big task the city faces in preparing for the pontiff’s visit. It’s expected that there will be a significant lack of lodging for visitors flooding the city to comes and see the Pope, and the archdiocese has also called on Catholic and Christian families to open their homes up to those who might not be able to find hotels or other accommodations within two hours of Philadelphia proper.