Sheen beatification tickets defray ‘substantial costs’ of inviting thousands, says bishop
Tickets to the September 2026 beatification of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen are quickly being snapped up, with thousands claimed when they became available June 23.
The $15-$25 admission price is due to the “substantial costs” in planning and holding the event at a national-level venue, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, told OSV News.
The popular, scholarly Archbishop Sheen – a 20th-century pioneer of Catholic media – will be beatified Sept. 24 at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. The 1.7 million-square-foot structure, which features more than 67,000 seats excluding the floor section, hosted St. John Paul II for a 1999 papal Mass that at the time was the largest indoor gathering held in the U.S., according to the venue’s website.
More recently, the sporting and convention venue has been dubbed “The Battle dome,” since it’s the home field for the United Football League’s St. Louis Battle hawks.
Bishop Tylka – whose diocese has oversight of Archbishop Sheen’s sainthood cause – explained that The Dome, located in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was chosen for the beatification to enable as many of the faithful to share in the occasion.
“We could have done this event in our cathedral, where there would have been 800 people,” the bishop told OSV News June 23. “But we’re trying to maximize people’s participation. We want people to be there, and to do all of that, there are certainly significant costs that we are taking on.”
The Dome’s daily rental fees top six figures, and while Bishop Tylka did not share an exact number, the Battle hawks paid $100,000 per game to play at the venue in 2023.
But, as Bishop Tylka pointed out, “all that (rental fee) does is open the doors – it doesn’t cover any of the cost to actually operate” an event at The Dome.
Audiovisual, electrical, public safety, insurance, medical, cleaning and concession services are among those required for Dome events, with each item adding to the bottom line.
The Dome notes in its most recently available technical overview that “most of the skilled service work to build and support an event is done by local tradesmen and laborers from a variety of local unions,” including those representing carpenters, decorators, electricians, projectionists and stagehands.
While Bishop Tylka said the production company had “given us a discount,” The Dome notes that an approved audiovisual contractor “will hire the appropriate local union labor for audio visual work.”
Among the unions with which The Dome contracts is Stagehands Local 6 of IATSE (the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada).
As of June 10, Local 6 rates for riggers, who install and move staging, ranged from more than $36 to more than $47 per hour – with a minimum four-hour guarantee, double-time for overnight hours (midnight to 7 a.m.) and time-and-a-half after eight hours or 40 hours in a week with the same employer.
Bishop Tylka said beatification event organizers are “trying to, in many different ways, defray those costs by getting sponsorships.”
He said that one way of lessening the financial burden is “obviously” through venue-required ticketing – although that process itself entails its own set of costs.
“The Dome contracts with Ticketmaster,” said Bishop Tylka, referencing the global ticket management firm.
And Ticketmaster, part of Live Nation Entertainment, levies “a number of fees,” said Bishop Tylka.
On its website, Ticketmaster notes that the face value, or base price, of a ticket is set by the event organizer, factoring in production and venue costs as well as interest in the event. The listed price reflects the face value as well as service fees, which help cover costs incurred by the venue and Ticketmaster, including credit card processing fees. A facility charge may also be added, although Ticketmaster does not keep that portion.
Bishop Tylka noted that the beatification price tier is structured to allow reduced rates for seminarians and school groups, with one donor covering the cost of tickets for most consecrated religious.
“A person who’s willing to pay $25 for a ticket helps us to be able to offset the cost of inviting seminarians, religious and school groups,” he said.
But he cautioned, the “very generous gift” that has so far paid for consecrated religious attendees, “doesn’t guarantee that it’s covered every religious who’s coming.”
Bishop Tylka stressed that the ticketing fees were not equivalent to “paying” to attend a liturgy, a practice strictly forbidden by canon law, the Church’s main administrative code.
Ticketing for the event is required because of the realities of “crowd control, security and the expenses of putting on an event, whether it’s a beatification Mass for (Archbishop) Fulton Sheen or a football game in the stadium.”
“All those things have to be accounted for,” said Bishop Tylka. “And they’re just not free.”
