--- title: Selfie Sticks Banned for Pope's Visit to D.C. description: The gadgets were already prohibited at events in New York and Philadelphia canonical: https://time.com/4034079/pope-selfie-sticks/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-14T21:06:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:55:47.993Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Selfie Sticks Banned for Pope's Visit to D.C. og:description: The gadgets were already prohibited at events in New York and Philadelphia og:url: https://time.com/4034079/pope-selfie-sticks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46391fd24d5ec580/69886396196cf4402003804c/pope-selfie.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - AUGUST 04: Pope Francis poses for a selfie as he arrives in St. Peter's Square for an audience with thousands of altar servers from around Europe on August 4, 2015 in Vatican City, Vatican. The encounter was part of the ninth Int og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Selfie Sticks Banned for Pope's Visit to D.C. twitter:description: The gadgets were already prohibited at events in New York and Philadelphia twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46391fd24d5ec580/69886396196cf4402003804c/pope-selfie.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Selfie Sticks Banned for Pope's Visit to D.C. by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Sep 14, 2015 9:06 PM CUT  Pope Francis poses for a selfie as he arrives in St. Peter's Square for an audience in Vatican City on Aug. 4, 2015. Pope Francis poses for a selfie as he arrives in St. Peter's Square for an audience in Vatican City on Aug. 4, 2015.Franco Origlia—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Sep 14, 2015 9:06 PM CUT Pilgrims to Pope Francis’s D.C. visit will not be able to snap the perfect photo with a selfie stick: the oft-maligned devices have been [banned](http://www.secretservice.gov/data/press/releases/GPA11-15-Papal-Visit-DC.pdf "undefined") from papal events in the capitol. The Secret Service included selfie sticks in a list of prohibited items for the pope’s appearances in Washington, D.C.; the ban was also included in earlier announcements for his events in New York City and Philadelphia. The list of forbidden items includes a few obvious choices (weapons, explosives, mace) and some more benign ones (bicycles and balloons). 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