Chicago celebration for Pope Leo sold out

CHICAGO (WGN) – America’s past time will be the backdrop to a historic gathering as a celebration of the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States and Chicago, will be held at Rate Field in June.

Tickets went on sale for the June 14 event at Rate Field and appeared to sell out Friday night on Ticketmaster.

“This is a day that many people thought we would never see here in America, and yet here we are,” Bishop Lawrence Sullivan, vicar General of the Archdiocese of Chicago, said.

The Archdiocese of Chicago said 10,000 tickets were sold in the first 15 minutes of going live. They anticipate the Mass will soon be sold out.

The event will feature music, film, in-person testimonials and prayers from choirs and groups across the city, highlighting Chicago’s diversity. A Catholic Mass will then be held after the program.

There will also be a special video message from the pope himself, whose family confirmed is a fan of the Chicago White Sox.

“The fact that he’s a baseball fan means that he really understands Chicago, and the fact that he’s a baseball fan makes him so much more relatable,” Sullivan said.

There will be some changes compared to a traditional Catholic service. For example, there will be no kneeling since the event is being held at a baseball stadium, but there will be communion.

“It’ll be a very informative experience. It’s going to be a great celebratory experience. We’re going to have beautiful music and wonderful presentations that highlight the Holy Father in a very human way so that we can all relate to him and ask ourselves, ‘How do we open up our hearts to the movement of the Holy Spirit? How do we encounter the presence of the sacred?’ And I think the Holy Father’s life is a great example of that. It’s a great teaching tool for us to capitalize on,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan added he’s aware tickets have hit the resale market, with some going for well over $1,000. He anticipates those price tags to come down as the pope will not be appearing in person.

“I know nothing about the secondary market. That’s just not my area of expertise, but I think a lot of this was a sense of exuberance, but we priced the tickets at $5 to defray the cost and to make sure that everybody can come,” Sullivan said.

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, grew up in south suburban Dolton and his childhood home is now up for auction.

The pope was also spotted in the Rate Field stands (then U.S. Cellular Field) during Game 1 of the 2005 World Series against the Houston Astros. The “Don’t Stop Believin’” White Sox swept the Astros that year in the Fall Classic, winning their first World Series Championship since 1917.