Perth Catholics have flocked to St Mary’s Cathedral and numerous other parishes to venerate the relics of teenage up and coming saint, Blessed Carlo Acutis.
The relic of the Italian teenager, who died in 2006, arrived at St Mary’s Cathedral Saturday 19 October and have been on display until Thursday 24 October.
The first-class relics – strands of hair – were housed in a gold reliquary and placed on the sanctuary in front of the altar.
Born in London, England, on 3 May 1991, to Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, Carlo Acutis was an average teenager with an above-average knack for computers.
Before his death from leukemia in 2006, he put that knowledge to use by creating an online database of eucharistic miracles around the world.
In May this year, Pope Francis formally recognised a miracle attributed to the 15-year-old Italian teenager whose birth in 1991 will make him the first “millennial” to become a saint. No date has been set for his canonisation.
In addition to the welcome vigil on Saturday 19 October at St Mary’s Cathedral, two services were held that included Holy Hour and a talk by canon lawyer Fr Conor Steadman – who recently returned from Rome after several years of study – on Monday 21 October, and Holy Hour and a talk by Cathedral Assistant Priest Fr Kenneth Acosta on Tuesday 22 October.
In his talk, Fr Conor explained the three key elements the Church considers when discerning and authenticating a miracle.
Given Blessed Carlo’s deep devotion to the Eucharist, Fr Kenneth spoke about the Eucharist in the life of the teenage soon-to-be saint.
Cathedral Assistant Parish Priest Fr Jason Yeap, who assisted with organising the program of the relics, said although Blessed Carlo was very young boy, in his heart he was very much awakened by the zeal and his passion for the love of God.
“It’s what led him to seek the Lord in prayer, to give his life over to wanting to promote these amazing Eucharistic miracles that happened around the world, to show other people that God was real,” Fr Jason said.
Fr Jason continued by saying that with the hosting of the relics and exhibition of Blessed Carlo, we can awaken to the fact that God does work our lives in a very real way, and sometimes in extraordinary ways through phenomena like Eucharistic miracles.
“We pray that the call to holiness is awakened in us, that the love of the Lord awakens us, and will help us grow closer to him.”
The first miracle attributed to Carlo’s intercession was approved by Pope Francis in February 2020.
It involved a young Brazilian boy who was completely healed from a rare congenital disease of the pancreas.
In October of that year, the teen was beatified during a Mass at the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi. As part of his sainthood cause, the young teen’s body was exhumed and transferred to a place suitable for public veneration, the Shrine of the Renunciation at the Church of St Mary Major in Assisi in 2019.
The second miracle, which now paves the way for Carlo’s canonisation, was approved by the Holy Father Pope Francis on 23 May 2024 after a meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
According to the website of the dicastery, Pope Francis recognised the miraculous healing of Valeria Valverde, a young Costa Rican woman living in Florence who suffered a severe head injury.
The same day her mother visited Carlo’s tomb, Valverde “regained the ability to breathe on her own, and the following day, doctors recorded the recovery of upper limb motility and partial speech,” the Dicastery said.