Olympic Stadium of Montreal on October 30, 2010

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At the Olympic Stadium with the new "saint" Brother Andre. Actually I had tickets 1-12 but I sat at seat 4, Row 103 RR, it's among the first middle rows facing directly the altar and TV monitor. I will be posting some of the photos I took soon.


The different TV news reported varying statistics. The Canadian Press news says that there were about 45,000 people while CBC and Montreal Police say 30,000. Who to believe? Nonetheless, that's less than the 50,000 for the beatification celebrations of Brother Andre in May 1982 and less than the 60,000 predicted by Fr. Pierre Dufour of the Oratory.


Thousands attend Saint Brother Andre service

Organizers estimated about 45,000 people attended the event.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101030/national/saint_andre_celebration


Quebec's Brother Andre canonized as Canada's 1st saint of the 21st century

Sun Oct. 17 2010 5:01:45 PM | The Canadian Press

"We expect to attract between 50,000 and 60,000 people at Olympic Stadium," said Pierre Dufour, vice-rector of the Oratory. "This will probably be the biggest event since the 1976 Olympics."

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101017/101710_brother_andre/20101017/?hub=CP24Home



CBC

St. André's heart brings Montrealers closer to God

Estimated 30,000 faithful flock to Big O for 'our brother, our friend'


He and his mother, Denise, were part of a crowd of 30,000 who flocked to the Olympic Stadium on Saturday afternoon to remember and celebrate one of our own, elevated to sainthood on Oct. 17 in Rome.

The Montreal celebrations were so that everyday folks who couldn't make the trip to St. Peter's Square could share in the pomp and ceremony.

Tickets were a mere $5 and 42,000 of them were sold as of Friday, but police said only 30,000 people actually showed up.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Thousands+celebrate+Brother+Andr%C3%A9/3752907/story.html#ixzz13wb310os

CTV

Thousands gather at Olympic Stadium to honour Saint Andre

Organizers were hoping to fill the stadium with 50,000 supporters. It cost $5 to attend.

On Saturday afternoon, CTV Montreal Bureau Chief Genevieve Beauchemin said that thousands had piled into the stadium for the event.

But she said that it wasn't without some controversy, as a group had gathered to draw attention to cases of sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy.

Beauchemin said that the demonstrators were discreet and respectful, given that they "didn't want to be disruptive of the celebration."

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101030/mtl_saint-andre-service-101030/20101030/?hub=MontrealHome