Some of the free tickets to Pope Francis’ speech on immigration and religious freedom at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall are selling online for hundreds of dollars apiece.
The 10,000 tickets to the Sept. 26 event were made available online Tuesday and were snapped up in two minutes.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia says it doesn’t sanction the sales but can’t stop them. It says it would have hoped people got the tickets to be part of a historic event.
Mayor Michael Nutter says selling the tickets is not right and would be called "trifling" in the neighborhood where he grew up.
Only ticketholders can attend the speech.
Free tickets also will be available Wednesday for people who want to be within a few blocks of papal events Sept. 26 and 27 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.