PHILADELPHIA (CNS) – Two papal parades will allow virtually every onlooker a glimpse of the pope as he passes by along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, site of the Festival of Families in Philadelphia Sept. 26 and the papal Mass Sept. 27.

In addition, 30,000 tickets were being made available to people throughout the Philadelphia region and beyond who wish to get good lines of sight on the parkway for the historic events.

Those two new developments emerged in a news conference with Donna Crilley Farrell, executive director of the World Meeting of Families, at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center.

Farrell fielded questions from local media for an hour, reflecting a growing chorus of concerns by residents and visitors over difficulty accessing the papal events. The new initiatives, long in the planning but just announced, may help alleviate the fears that potential participants may have over transportation, security and access to events.

A sticking point for many was the introduction of tickets for parkway events that had previously been touted as un-ticketed.