St. Carlo Acutis Parish, the only North American parish named for the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint — hosted a celebration in honor of Acutis’ canonization, part of festivities that will last until the anniversary of his death Oct. 12.
Chicago just got a little holier.
And no one is more excited than the folks at Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish — now St. Carlo Acutis Parish, the only parish in North America named for the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.
On Sunday it hosted a celebration in honor of Acutis’ canonization, part of festivities that will last until the anniversary of his death Oct. 12.
An all-woman mariachi group, Mariachi Sirenas, performed on the steps at St. Hedwig Church in Bucktown, part of St. Acutis Parish, as several hundred people filed into Mass on Sunday morning. A portrait of Acutis and a soccer ball were carried by the Mass procession moving down the aisles. Parishioners wore soccer jerseys along with their Sunday best amid a sea of gold and blue ribbons waving in the air.
“It was a sign of the youthfulness of the church and Carlo Acutis as an example of living the gospel in the modern age,” the Rev. Ed Howe told the Sun-Times before the Mass. “And our vision is to share Carlo Acutis with everyone else.”
During the service, Howe, pastor of St. Carlo Acutis Parish, blessed two 150-pound bronze busts of Acutis, who is nicknamed the “saint next door.” The busts were created by sculptor Timothy Schmalz, who made the busts at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis last year and donated them to the parish.
