Popemania hits DC: Emergency bobblehead orders and more

The signs of Pope Francis’s imminent visit to Washington are everywhere — literally.

Signs that read: “Event, 9/22-24, avoid roads, use transit” dot the streets of the nation’s capital. Though D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser assures citizens the city is prepared for the Pope’s visit this week, it seems likely the District will be overwhelmed by the influx of expected visitors, perhaps to an unprecedented degree.

A local Catholic store has already experienced the crush surrounding the impending visit, and had to rush-order bobbleheads, postcards, and other memorabilia featuring the Holy Father’s likeness.

The Catholic Information Center (CIC) is the only store stocking many of these items in Washington, D.C. according to John Coe, an employee the Washington Examiner spoke to. Earlier in the week, large bobbleheads of the Pontiff greeted K Street’s window shoppers. They’re now sold out of the toys, until a new order arrives later this week.

The employee relayed that he won’t be seeing the Holy Father in Washington, as he has to work those days because a lot of store traffic is expected from out-of-towners. Instead, he will be seeing the Pope in Philadelphia, the last leg of Francis’s American tour.

The last time the head of the Roman Catholic Church came to D.C. was 2008, during the tenure of now Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, German-born Joseph Ratzinger. Pope Francis hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, one of Latin America’s largest and most famous cities.

During his five-day visit to Washington in April, 2008, Francis’ predecessor Benedict had an entire section of the bookstore. When asked about the popularity of Francis with the church’s moderate to liberal wings and outsiders compared to his predecessor, CIC chief operating officer Mitch Boersma noted that Francis is following in the footsteps of Benedict XVI by challenging Catholics in America of all political stripes to think with the Church before thinking as a democrat or republican.

The Washington, D.C. metro area is home to over a million Catholics, with over 620,000 Catholics belonging to the archdiocese of Washington and an additional 400,000 Catholics in the diocese of Arlington, just across the Potomac.

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