Papal ticket scams surface in Mexico, Bishop warns pilgrims

The Mexican Conference of Catholic Bishops has reminded pilgrims that tickets to Pope Francis' trip are free. The warning comes after the rise of fraudulent papal ticket available online.

Pope Francis is set to visit Mexico mid February, where he will be going to various locations including the Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine. 

However, the anticipated trip has given rise to various scams related to the selling of tickets, despite the Papal gatherings being free of charge.

Some ticket scams have even reached Facebook, targeting desperate pilgrims by promising guaranteed entrance to the various activities during the Pope's visit.

The Mexican Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement reminding pilgrims that all events at the Papal Visit are free and are marketed with the official design of the Papal Trip.

The group also noted that the official tickets have unique security features and clearly marketed information regarding the event details.

"The tickets are already being printed and will be delivered in late January to the bishops of the 93 dioceses of Mexico so that each bishop can distribute them in his respective diocese as he deems appropriate, also trying to include those who do not participate in the Church," the bishops said.

They also reiterated that the allocation of tickets to each diocese of Mexico takes into account the number of inhabitants in each diocese, the number of Catholics, seminarians, deacons and priests, men and women, and the geographic proximity of the Papal activities.

Another anticipated highlight of the Papal visit is the Pope's trip to the Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon Stadium in Morelia, where the Pope is set to meet with the youth and people who are not close to the Church.