Vatican press complain about high cost of papal flights

Pope Francis speaks with journalists aboard a plane during a flight back from Baku in Azerbaijan to Rome, in this Oct. 2, 2016 file photo. Journalists have complained about the high cost of air tickets to accompany the pope on overseas trips. (Photo by Luca Zennaro/AFP)

Journalists who cover the Vatican have lodged a protest against the high cost of air tickets to accompany the pope on foreign trips.

In a letter to Vatican officials, 30 journalists representing international news agencies have complained about the €1,738 ($1,877) cost that the Vatican has announced for reporters who wish to travel on the papal plane to Fatima in Portugal in May, Catholic Culture. org reported.

That price seems completely disproportionate, the journalists argue, noting that comparable commercial flights cost about $250.

The Vatican regularly makes seats available for reporters on the pope's flights abroad. The costs assessed for the reporters help subsidize papal travel.

The journalists' protest was conveyed in a letter to three Vatican officials: Archbishop Angelo Becciu, the sostituto or deputy secretary of state; Greg Burke, the director of the Vatican press office; and Msgr. Mauricio Rueda Beltz, the coordinator for papal trips.

However the reporters also suggest that Pope Francis himself should be sympathetic to their concerns, since he has decried the commercialization of church functions.