Controversy has emerged over the Pope's planned open-air mass at Bellahouston Park near Glasgow, with many parishes returning more than half of their allocated tickets for the event.The organisers now reportedly fear that attendance will fall short of the 100,000 they expected to come to the mass, which will cost £1.5m to stage.
Each of Scotland's 450 Catholic parishes received a pro-rata ticket allocation based on the size of their regular congregation, but the Herald reports that in some cases, only one-sixth of parishioners are planning to take up their places at the event.
In 1982, Pope John Paul II celebrated mass at the same site on a sunny afternoon, with 300,000 people in attendance.
The choice of this site has been interpreted as an attempt to recreate the success and popularity of that service for a pope that has been under siege in recent months.
The open-air mass requires attendees to be in their places hours before the two-hour service is due to begin, and it is thought that fears about the weather and long travel times are putting people off.
Distant parishes are also planning to watch the service via video link, rather than travel to the other side of the country to attend in person.
The service, which will take place on 19 September as part of the Pope's forthcoming visit to Britain, has also re-opened the debate over the cost of the Pope's trip to Britain.
While insisting that pilgrims will not have to pay to attend the Bellahouston mass, the Catholic church has asked each parish to make a donation of £20 per attendee -- an obligation which many parishes have passed on to their parishioners.
The total cost of the visit, which will be borne by Britain as the host nation, has already provoked outrage in some quarters, after it was revealed that costs could exceed £20m.
As well as asking for "voluntary donations" from attendees to cover the cost of specific events, the Catholic church is also asking members to donate towards the overall cost of the visit, which it is currently estimating at £7m.
The church is also selling merchandise to coincide with the papal visit. T-shirts, fridge magnets and mugs are available as well as more traditional religious artefacts.
As well as being hit with low attendance figures, the Pope's visit could also suffer from a lack of television exposure, after BBC workers threatened to strike during the visit (as well as other major events such as the Last Night of the Proms) over pension disputes.
Workers are currently being balloted on the issue, and a result is expected in the week before the Pope is due to arrive in Britain.
Add to this Richard Dawkins and others' stated intention to attempt to arrest the Pope for his alleged complicity in the abuse scandal while he is on British soil, and we could be in for an eventful visit come September.
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