Pope to take Center Field at Nationals Park, Washington

The Canadian Press reports on a change in the outdoor mass in Washington:

WASHINGTON - Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate mass from centre field at the Washington Nationals' new ballpark during his three-day visit to the city in mid-April, officials said.

With thousands of people already requesting tickets to the April 17 event, officials with the Archdiocese of Washington said they wanted as many people as possible to attend the mass. They considered placing the altar in the second base area but realized they could fit in an extra 4,000 seats by putting it in centre field - for a total of 45,000 seats.

The doors will open about 6:30 a.m. for pre-mass activities, including music and videos. The two-hour mass begins at 10 a.m.

Plans for distributing the free tickets have not been announced. Archdiocese officials want to make sure they do not get into the hands of scalpers or wind up on EBay, spokeswoman Susan Gibbs said.

According to the article, the Pope will be transported around in the infamous PopeMobile.