Back in 2009, Italian Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, bishop of Assisi, saw that the pastor of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore had put up a picture of Carlo Acutis, a late devout Catholic and internet expert.
Acutis, a British-born teen who became known in Assisi and beyond for his devotion to the Eucharist, had died in 2006 at age 15. But he had an outsized spiritual impact during his short life, using his computer programming skills to establish popular religious websites in Italy, including one devoted to documenting Eucharistic miracles.
“I didn’t know him when I arrived in Assisi,” Sorrentino told people gathered at a church last week in Hegewisch. “I saw many young people come. I saw Carlo had a power of collecting young people.”
An image of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis, an Italian boy who died in 2006 of leukemia, is seen during his beatification ceremony celebrated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, center, in the St. Francis Basilica, in Assisi, Italy, in 2020. Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo
Acutis is set to be canonized as the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint on Sept. 7.
Sorrentino, who is the curator of Acutis’ tomb and relic in Assisi, delivered a message of hope and rebirth July 16 at Christ Our Light Parish — St. Florian Church in Chicago’s Hegewisch neighborhood while leading a veneration of a relic of Acutis, a muscle from his heart.
People began showing up at St. Florian more than an hour before the service was set to start, filling the pews by the time the service started.
“This is amazing to have a soon-to-be canonized saint like Carlo so close to our home,” said Karina Bermejo, who was accompanied by several family members. “To have the archbishop of Assisi is also remarkable.”
Fellow parishioner Adriana Rodriguez came with her father, Jose, who was also in awe.
“The significance of being able to see in real life a piece of somebody who is going to be canonized a saint,” said Rodriguez. “Sometimes when we think about saints, we think about the old or in the past. To be able to witness this in our time is incredible,” she said.
Bringing the relic here, Rodriguez said, would enable her to more fully participate in Acutis’ canonization in Italy.
“Some people can’t go to Italy to be present,” she said. “Because of this event, we’re going to be present in spirit.”
Sorrentino also visited other parishes with the relic, including St. Hedwig Church in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood, part of Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish, the first parish in North America named for the soon-to-be saint.
The Rev. David Simonetti, pastor of St. Florian Church, had the opportunity to invite Sorrentino by chance, and was thrilled that he came.
“Archbishop Sorrentino was in Seattle and my classmate is in a parish there,” Simonetti said. “My friend called me and said Sorrentino had a free day, would you like him to come to your parish? I said I certainly would.”
Mark Martich, a St. Florian member who was greeting visitors as they came in, said he hadn’t heard much about Acutis prior to the relic service.
“It really piqued my curiosity about what he accomplished,” Martich said, adding Acutis’ canonization might be a good way to “get the young ones involved in the church.”
Sorrentino agreed, saying Acutis has become a symbol of hope as well as a bridge between generations in the internet age.
“My friends, don’t worry, don’t be afraid, it is the little boys who teach their grandfathers about computers,” he said. “(Acutis) will teach you the language of this world.”
That youthful aspect, he said, could create waves throughout the world.
“Can the church be young again after 2,000 years?” Sorrentino asked. “Can the church say something very interesting that touches and moves many?
“Carlo would say the Eucharist is my highway to heaven. … It’s time to be young again.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.