WC group holds essay contest for papal tickets

A group of Westchester friends who obtained tickets to see the pope during his visit to Philadelphia held an essay contest to give them away. There were 10,000 tickets released ahead of Pope Francis'

News 12 Staff

•

Sep 11, 2015, 2:23 AM

•

Updated 3,580 days ago

A group of Westchester friends who obtained tickets to see the pope during his visit to Philadelphia held an essay contest to give them away.

There were 10,000 tickets released ahead of Pope Francis' visit, and many who obtained them quickly put them up for sale on the Internet for as much as $1,500.

Three high school friends from Westchester put their tickets on Craigslist, but not for sale. They offered them for free to whoever they thought wrote the best essay.

The three friends, Devin, Dustin and David, asked to be only identified by their first names. They say 100 people responded to their ad.

The chose Terry Casey, a 28-year-old father from Philadelphia, as the winner.

Casey, a Jesuit, wrote an essay inspired by his Jesuit faith, and the significance of his son's middle name, Francis. Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope.

"When Pope Francis was selected, the first Jesuit Pope, it was particularly exciting," Casey says. "To find out we had won, it was really a thrill."

Devin says the friends chose their winner based on who they thought was truly deserving.

"Let those people be the ones to see the pope when he's going to be in Philadelphia," he says.