Some area Catholics endured a ride from hell to see the Pope, lawsuit charges

A Revere tour operator who organized buses for local Catholics to see the Pope in Philadelphia last September says the bus companies he hired sent rickety buses driven by sleepy, non-English-speaking drivers that left riders terrified and wondering if they'd make it out alive.

In a lawsuit filed this week in US District Court in Boston, Pacelli Braga, owner of Sacra Tours, which organizes religious pilgrimages and tours for Boston's Portuguese-speaking community, is seeking more than $1.5 million in damages and penalties from three out-of-state bus companies: Shofur, LLC, Go Bus America and Academy Bus.

Braga says he signed up more than 600 people - on the request of the Archdiocese of Boston - who paid up to $200 a ticket for the round-trip ride to Philadelphia. But the 11 buses that showed up were "dirty, odorous and old" and didn't have working lavatories. Several drivers refused to turn the heat on even though the temperatures outside were below 40, he charges.

Also, "External parts on one or more buses were not properly maintained, leading to loud banging noises, which caused great alarm to passengers, and parts falling off, which led to delays while drivers stopped to fix the buses."

"During the trip, at least one driver fell asleep while driving." Other drivers sped, some could neither speak nor read English, so they got lost because they couldn't understand road signs, the suit alleges. Some drivers were rude - one allegedly called Braga's wife "stupid" - and threatened to leave passengers behind when they demanded stops to use restrooms.

Braga says that because of the horrible conditions on the trip, his reputation and business has suffered "immeasurable harm" in the "small, insular community" of Portuguese-speaking residents of the Boston area.

Complete Sacra complaint (2.1M PDF).