Philly Lockdown: What does Pope Francis know?

POPE FRANCIS' visit next month will put Philadelphia in the world spotlight. That's always Good News/Bad News.

When Philly gets ready for its close-up, there's often egg on our face and spinach between our teeth. (Happily, it will be too warm for anyone to chuck a snowball at His Holiness.)

The carping started with Martial Law Lite, locking down a vast swath of the city.

What seems like media negativity flows from asking questions - of the city, the World Meeting of Families, the Secret Service, SEPTA - that were not answered, or were answered and then reversed.

A trying-not-to-be-testy Mayor Nutter said we can embrace the event or we can fear it, we can't do both. Wrong. We can both hug it and fear it and I wish he'd drop the "once in a lifetime" business. It's twice in his (and my) lifetime. Pope John Paul II was here in 1979, it put Philly on the map for a moment, it permanently changed nothing about the world's perception of Philadelphia, and that was with one-quarter of the stifling security, the self-inflicted wound that is undermining enthusiasm this time around.

The city's suspicious attitude toward innocent religious pilgrims contrasts with the fluffy Sanctuary City welcome mat it puts out for convicted aliens.

The city on Wednesday tried to dig out of its self-dug hole. The "traffic box," a/k/a the "green zone," was christened the "Francis Festival grounds." That's like the communists changing Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City. Different name, still no freedom.

The papal visit now has a marketing theme: "I'll Be There." (We hope.)

Body cavity searches will be conducted only in the "red zone," to be called the "Tickle Me Playground," city officials did not announce.

The lockdown created the controversy. The kvetching so far has been contained in our back yard, like a septic tank.

Does the pope know about the controversy? If so, what does he say about it? I don't have him on speed dial.

Helen Ubiñas called for him to go rogue and visit Kensington. I want him to go commando and shout, "Tear down this wall!"

I need to get to the pope.

I thought about calling Lee Solters, who handled Sinatra, but he's dead, so I went to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the World Meeting of Families.

Since Archbishop Chaput is busy cold-shouldering gay and transgender people, I leave a message for director of communications Ken Gavin. I also reach out for the Vatican's Washington embassy, which doesn't have a press secretary, but gives me the contact info for Archbishop Carlo Vigano, Apostolic Nuncio, or ambassador.

Now I'm getting somewhere.

But not far. His secretary, the Rev. Michael McCormack, directs me to the director of the Vatican Press Office. I email my questions to the Rev. Federico Lombardi a week ago and then again this week. I'm still waiting.

This is almost as hard as getting Nutter on the phone. Does Barbara Walters have this problem?

Gavin tells me Vatican security has been working with domestic security, so they know about the controversy. Do they SnapChat the Holy Father? Don't know.

Finally, I go to our local, impressively informed (and yet unofficial) Vatican authority, Rocco Palmo, who writes the authoritative blog, "Whispers in the Loggia."

Does the pope know about the security chatter? His guess: "Probably not, at least not yet."

The best I can do is a 2013 papal tweet following his visit to Rio: "We had problems with the plans for security: security here, security there . . . But to make an armed space between the bishop and the people is madness . . . Closeness is good for all of us."

Are you listening Secret Service? Mayor Nutter?

Phone: 215-854-5977

On Twitter: @StuBykofsky

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