PHILIPPINES: Authorities Suggest Adult Diapers For Catholics During Papal Visit

Via the Associated Press:

When Pope Francis visits the Philippines next week, traffic enforcers won’t let the capital’s streets get gridlocked if they have to answer the call of nature. About 2,000 traffic enforcers who will be on duty during the Jan. 15-19 papal visit will be required to wear adult diapers, said Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino. Tolentino also encouraged people who will wait for hours to see the pope to also wear diapers. The prospect of wearing diapers while on duty was “well received” by his men, he said Wednesday. Tolentino said the idea will be tested on Friday by 800 traffic enforcers who work shifts during the nearly 24-hour annual procession of the Black Nazarene. It will be the first time that traffic enforcers in the Philippines will wear diapers while on duty in the streets, he said. Priests, nuns, seminarians, and the elderly also should consider wearing diapers, he said.

More from Quartz:

Tolentino told a local radio station that the diapers can absorb “up to four rounds of urination,” and added that he would “try” to wear a diaper himself for the pope’s four-day visit, which starts on Jan. 15. The pope’s final mass in Manila is expected to draw as may as 6 million people. It’s not clear why Manila was unable to provide enough portable toilets for the papal visit. The government allocated 20 million pesos ($445,000) to prettify the 40-hectare Rizal Park, including the installation of toilets. But the estimated crowd would require approximately 6,000 portable toilets, based on the proportion used for a recent beatification ceremony in Rome.