Tight security means thousands may miss the Pope at Hyde Park

Thousands of worshippers could be prevented from seeing the Pope in Hyde Park because of tight security.

The Evening Standard has learned that at least 10,000 tickets for Saturday's prayer vigil may go unclaimed — and people turning up at the last minute will be turned away.

Pilgrims wanting to attend the Hyde Park event, which has a capacity of 80,000, had to register a month ago and pay £5 for a "pilgrim pack" that included a ticket and security wristband.

A Standard survey of all 24 dioceses across England and Wales found that, of the 16 that replied, each had allocated only about 40,000 tickets to see Pope Benedict.

Event organisers believe final numbers will be "somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000 pilgrims".

Problems have been caused by the decision not to make tickets available on the internet and to require all pilgrims to travel in organised groups. Each has a "pilgrim leader" able to vouch for the members of each group at security checkpoints.

Monsignor John Nelson, co-ordinator for Portsmouth diocese, said: "I am receiving between 10 and 20 emails an hour from people telling me they never realised they couldn't just turn up.
Others are regular church-goers who didn't twig that they had to be signed up on a list. It is definitely a logistical challenge."

Sarah Ross, Papal visit co-ordinator for Arundel and Brighton, said: "I've got people phoning me on a regular basis. At one point we needed more than the allocated number of places, then we needed less and now I think we won't have enough.

"Security is going to be tight. We have 100 groups going and each group will have its own assigned meeting point before entering the park with their pilgrim leader."

Pilgrims first had to register their interest in July. Some are thought to have been put off by the logistical demands — all have been told to be in Hyde Park by 2pm, four-and-a-half hours before the Pope arrives.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Northampton said: "People had to get their names and addresses down early for security reasons. If they did not book through their parish then it is probably too late."

The Archdiocese of Southwark, which covers south London and Kent, is expected to send one of the largest delegations, of about 14,000 people. By yesterday it had sent out 12,300 pilgrim packs and expected this figure to rise as colleges and schools take up their allocations.

A similar number is expected from Westminster diocese, which covers 216 parishes in north London and Hertfordshire. Southwark is also sending 2,000 pilgrims in 40 coaches overnight to Birmingham for a mass on Sunday, during which the Pope will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, a 19th-century English theologian.

A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, the body that oversees the visit, said: "We are still working on the expectation of somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000 pilgrims at the Evening Prayer Vigil in Hyde Park on Saturday."

David Cameron today called on Britons not to allow disagreements over some of the Pope's views to cloud their judgement of his broader message.

The Prime Minister told of the Pontiff's "historic and incredibly important" four-day visit. "This is the first ever official Papal visit to these shores. It's a great honour for our country," he said.

"No doubt, of course, not everyone will agree with everything that the Pope says. But that should not prevent us from acknowledging that the Pope's broader message can help challenge us to ask searching questions about our society and how we treat ourselves and each other."

Society was about shared values and working for the common good not just "materialism," he added.

"The fellowship and solidarity that unite us are not just Christian values but British values."

THE POPE'S PROGRESS

The Pope's first appearance in London will from 10am on Friday when he addresses 3,500 schoolchildren and students at St Mary's University College in Twickenham.

At 5pm-5.15pm he will travel from Lambeth Palace to Parliament in the Popemobile. Lambeth and Westminster bridges and Millbank will be closed from 11.30am to 9pm to allow public viewing.

There will be further road closures on Saturday, from 7am-2pm, when he appears at Westminster Cathedral at 10am, and from 5pm-9pm around Hyde Park. He will travel in the Popemobile from Horse Guards to Hyde Park from 6pm to 6.30pm on Saturday. This will be preceded by a visit to Saint Peter's Residence in Vauxhall, an old people's home, at 5pm. The Hyde Park vigil is expected to end by 9pm.

Pope Benedict will be staying at the Apostolic Nunciature overlooking Wimbledon Common for the duration of his visit, where the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, will be his host.