Chicago Catholic church hosts relic from soon-to-be millennial saint
A rare relic tied to a future saint made a stop in Chicago this week.
People attending mass Tuesday night at St. Hedwig Church, at 2226 N. Hoyne Ave. in the Bucktown neighborhood, got to see it.
Reaching the heights of sainthood may not seem like a modern-day story, until one hears about a 15-year-old boy in Milan, Italy, named Carlo Acutis.
"His memory and his influence was so great that it impacts us today," said Father Ed Howe.
Howe called Carlo Acutis' story amazing.
"At an early age, he created websites about eucharistic miracles," Howe said.
Father Howe is the pastor at the only parish named for the soon-to-be saint from the Millennial generation, , of which St. Hedwig is a part.
"Carlo Acutis was someone who people have called the patron saint of the internet," said Fr. Howe. "He was playing video games, and he probably had an email. He might be the only saint who had an email."
St. Hedwig is already home to a relic of Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006. The relic consists of a little lock of his hair.
Just weeks before Carlo Acutis is officially canonized by Pope Leo XIV, another relic is visiting Chicago too. Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino brought a piece of Carlo Acutis' heart from Italy.
"To send people the heart of Carlo," said Sorrentino, "the pericardium, which is the skin around the heart."
People got to see the relic Tuesday night after Sorrentino held a special mass at St. Hedwig Church.
"When you look at Carlo, you say: 'This is something that works also for me. I can be a saint,'" said Sorrentino.
The archbishop said it was the love in the millennial's heart that will make him a saint.
"His influence lives on today in so many different ways as an example of how to live holiness for young people in today's world with all its different challenges," said Fr. Howe.
