BBC takes amusing look at Ireland’s papal visit in numbers

No worries: The Irish won't be found without tea... one wonders if the pope will get "mate," the Argentinean version?

The BBC has taken a brief look at the numbers associated with Pope Francis’ trip to Ireland this month. “From loaves to loos” sets out to tell us some of the reassuring, interesting, and amusing elements of preparing for a pope — and thousands of families — to visit.

For one thing:

More than 1,000 nurses, doctors and paramedics will be stationed in Dublin’s Phoenix Park during the Papal Mass on Sunday 26 August.

But also get this:

Being prepared means that there will even be a mortuary, so that if anyone dies their body can be held until undertakers get to the scene.

And WMOF organizers show the’ve learned from the experience of Philadelphia’s 2015 World Meeting of Families, where six women went into labor. They’re ready for births, too.

Here’s the most Irish of all the stats:

As the Irish can go nowhere without a cup of tea, there will be 150 food and drink outlets in Phoenix Park. … Organizers have worked out that if just half of the people at the event have a cuppa, 31,250 litres of milk will be used.

Check out the rest of the article — including how many sandwiches will accompany all that tea — here.

When the pope is preparing for an apostolic visit, the Vatican also releases a look at the host nation’s numbers.

Ireland, for example, has 56 bishops, 2,542 diocesan priests and 1,793 religious priests, meaning there are 1,230 Catholics per priest. There are 150 seminarians.

Stay tuned for Aleteia’s on-the-ground coverage of the World Meeting of Families, brought to us by Philip Kosloski.