Should Philly have given Pope tickets away for free?

Fans of the Pontifex weren't the only ones to land their hands on tickets to witness the Philadelphia visit when they were released online yesterday.

Plenty of middlemen scored passes and posted them for sale on websites like Craigslist, raising the question of whether Philadelphia should have charged money to weed out scalpers.

Rick, a caller from Bridgewater, suggested the city should have distributed tickets to Catholic churches so they could then raffle spots off to their congregations. This, he said, would help ensure people who really want to be at the event would actually get there.

George, who called from the Turnpike, agreed with me that it was foolish to expect people not to resell tickets in this situation.

Should the city have charged people to see the Pope? Tell me what you think in the poll and comments section below, or tweet me @BillSpadea and @nj1015.

Bill Spadea is creator of the Chasing News TV program. He periodically fills in for NJ 101.5 show hosts, and you can daily hear his opinion about all things New Jersey here, or by tweeting @BillSpadea.