Travellers set up camp close to Newman beatification site

The travellers, from Ireland, say they hope to be blessed by the Pope but do not have tickets for the Mass

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Irish travellers hoping to be blessed by the Pope next month have set up camp in a historic beauty spot in Birmingham.

Around 16 families moved on to a field next to Sarehole Mill in Hall Green, Birmingham, on Tuesday, telling a local councillor they were in the city to attend Pope Benedict XVI's open-air Mass in Cofton Park on September 19.

Cllr Martin Mullaney said the travellers told him they had made their way from Co Donegal and had no idea the beatification Mass for Cardinal Newman was ticketed. Pilgrim passes for the event cost £25 each, and are allocated through parish priests only.

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