Even a papal Mass has a pecking order.
Among the 46,000 people at Nationals Park on Thursday for Pope Benedict XVI’s Mass were several notable Washingtonians — and they had good seats, too.
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Spotted in the first few rows of the seats set up on the outfield, close to the custom-constructed altar, were Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., Mayor Adrian Fenty and his mother, Jan, former Mayor Anthony Williams, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Maryland Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, Director of the Joint Staff Lt. Gen. Skip Sharp, Navy Vice Adm. Stephen Stanley and AOL co-founder Jim Kimsey (does he ever miss a big event?). Meanwhile, Republican House Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter sat on the field near home plate.
A source on the scene said many of the VIPs entered the stadium through one of the lower tunnels, passing the visitors’ clubhouse. But instead of baseball uniforms, the tunnel was lined with hundreds of priestly robes, hanging on racks in row after row, so that the scores of priests on hand could grab one on their way in.
But not all the prime seats were taken up by A-listers. A spokeswoman from the Archdiocese of Washington said many of the luxury suites went to “regular parishioners,” or groups such as Catholic University.
