It will be more crowded than the Fourth of July!

Rumors have been flying! Apartments in Fairmount have been airbnb’ing! Pope Francis is coming, and we couldn’t even keep HitchBot safe! It’s Pope-mageddon! Pope-nado! Pope-zilla! What is a Philadelphian to do?

Repeat after me: everything will be OK. This post is my guide to that fateful weekend in September. No rumor-mongering here- just links to confirmed information, helpful maps and resources, and a little bit of humor.

THE MAIN EVENTS

The doom and gloom coverage of the Holy Pontiff’s trip has obscured the fact that this is a once-in-a-lifetime event that lots of people are very excited to see. So why is the Pope coming, what will he be doing, and why is it a big deal?

• About Pope Francis. Part of the reason officials are expecting a crowd of 1,000,000+ is that Pope Francis, who was elected only 2 years ago, is already a beloved figure and a celebrated figure on the world stage.

GETTING AROUND

SUBLETTING YOUR APARTMENT

PAPAL NOVELTIES

Countless area businesses have seized this opportunity to produce various novelty products or to stage Pope-themed events of, well, various degrees of irreverence. Besides the inevitable t-shirts and Pope plushies we’ll see hawked on the streets during the main event, here are some other items you’ll be able to buy come September, plus some things to do!

• Food and Drink.

NEWS