A new event has been added to the Archdiocese of Louisville’s bicentennial observance next year: a Mass Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate on Sunday, April 20, in New York at which the archdiocese will be one of five U.S. archdioceses honored.

To mark the occasion, the archdiocese this week announced preliminary plans for an archdiocesan delegation and for representatives from all parishes to attend the Mass in Yankee Stadium.

Dr. Brian Reynolds, archdiocesan chancellor and chief administrative officer, said the archdiocese has requested 650 tickets from the office of the papal visit in New York.

The Mass in Yankee Stadium will be the final public event of Pope Benedict’s April 15-20trip to the United States. The pope will be in Washington, D.C., April 15-17 before traveling to New York April 18.

The April 20 Mass will recognize four archdioceses celebrating bicentennials in 2008 — Louisville, Boston, New York and Philadelphia — and will also recognize the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the original diocese in the United States.

Reynolds said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz; the cardinal-archbishops of Boston, New York and Philadelphia; and the archbishop of Baltimore will join the pope at the altar as the principal concelebrants at Mass. Also, the coat of arms of each of the dioceses will be displayed in the stadium.

“It’s a very significant event for Archbishop Kurtz and the archdiocese to be recognized in such a way,” Reynolds said. “There will be special seating for us” — as well as the other archdioceses being honored — and “we want to be well represented.”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most people” to attend a papal Mass and have the Louisville archdiocese recognized and the archbishop as a concelebrant, Reynolds added. “This is a big event for us to be part of.”

Reynolds said plans for local representation include:

• An archdiocesan delegation of 150 people. He said this would include representatives of various ministries in the archdiocese, such as the College of Consultors, priests, deacons, religious communities, youth, ethnic groups and civic and community leaders.

Archbishop Kurtz will invite people to be part of the delegation, Reynolds said.

• Representation from parishes in the archdiocese.

Every parish will be given tickets to distribute in the parish, Reynolds said. “Unfortunately, it will be a small number” — probably four for each parish — although the exact number will not be known until the final ticket count is received from the office the papal visit in New York, he said.

In early January the archdiocese will send to each parish more detailed information about tickets and distribution plans, Reynolds said.

“At this time we are announcing that we are going to be fully participating” in the papal Mass and that “every parish will be invited to have representation,” he said in an interview this week.

Also being prepared are plans for transportation and hotel accommodations, Reynolds said. He said these plans also will be announced in January when they are made final.

Several transportation options are being considered. Reynolds said they include chartering a plane — which could leave early on April 20 and return following the papal Mass — and providing buses, which could depart from different locations in the archdiocese.

New York is about a 15-hour bus trip from Louisville, which probably would entail a one-night stay in a hotel, he said.

Reynolds also said the archdiocese is working on plans for hotel accommodations.

Tickets to the papal Mass will be free, but there will be a charge for transportation and lodging, he said.

He cautioned people against acquiring tickets through the Internet, scalpers or other such sources, saying these would be fraudulent tickets. “Tickets are only being distributed through the dioceses,” he said.

For people attending the papal Mass from the archdiocese, their names, addresses and identification will have to be submitted by Feb. 1 because of security requirements, Reynolds said. He also noted that tickets are nontransferable.

Reynolds said the archdiocese has been informed that the April 20 Mass in Yankee Stadium will begin at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, and people will be asked to be in their seats by noon. The stadium seats about 65,000 people.

While in New York, Pope Benedict will speak to the United Nations; have a prayer service with Protestant and Orthodox communities; a Mass for priests and religious at St. Patrick’s Cathedral; and a meeting with seminarians and youth. Besides the Mass at Yankee Stadium on April 20, the pope will visit ground zero, where the World Trade Center stood.

In Washington, Pope Benedict will celebrate a Mass at the Nationals’ baseball stadium on April 17. He also will meet with the U.S. bishops, attend a diplomatic reception at the White House, meet with Catholic educators and attend an interreligious gathering.