Paris Forms Commission to Hold Masses Deciding Who May Attend the Mass
Officials say the qualifying rounds are going so well they may need a second Mass to pick who attends the qualifying Mass.
City officials confirmed Tuesday that the newly formed Mass Attendance Commission has begun holding preliminary religious services solely to whittle down the pool of half a million hopefuls wishing to attend the Pope's main event.
"We realized very quickly that you cannot fit everyone who wants to go to a Mass into one Mass," said a commission spokesperson, adjusting a lanyard that read Attendee, Pending Attendance. "So we're holding smaller Masses first, just to see who's serious about it."
The qualifying services, held in a rented gymnasium three times daily, reportedly draw overflow crowds of their own, prompting commission staff to float the idea of a preliminary round before the preliminary round.
Attendees who pass the qualifying Mass receive a ticket redeemable for a seat at a second qualifying Mass, where a final list will be drawn up for the actual Mass, assuming turnout for the second qualifying Mass does not itself require a third.
By Thursday, the commission's only official business was scheduling additional Masses to manage attendance at its existing Masses, a state of affairs one staffer described as "spiritually efficient, logistically infinite."