During the canonization of Carlo Acutis the relic of his heart will be present in Rome

The Catholic Church prepares for an event that, before even having been included in the 2025 jubilee calendar, had already left a deep spiritual footprint in millions of faithful: the canonization of Carlo Acutis.

This young Italian, who died in 2006 with only 15 years of a fulminant leukemia, became an surprising witness of faith in the 21st century. His passion for the Eucharist, his commitment to the most needy and their ability to use new technologies for evangelization have made it deserving of the appellation of “the cyberbetter of the Eucharist.”

The Bishop of Assisi, a city where he was beatified in the year 2020, where his remains rest and where many devotees of his, Mons. Domenico Sorrentino pilgrim, confirmed to ACI Press that, during the ceremony in which he will be declared Santo on April 27 in the Plaza de San Pedro, one of his most significant relics will be present at the altar: his heart.

“It is usually exposed for the veneration of the faithful in the Cathedral of Assisi, but will be taken to Rome for the celebration,” he says, after verifying that the veneration of the relics is an ancient practice in the Catholic Church.

“Many are placed on the altars, as if meaning that holy bodies are the most beautiful altar to celebrate the Eucharist. The faithful want to see the relics to have a more sensitive experience of the proximity of the saints,” he says.

In this sense, the heart of what will be the first Millennial Holy constitutes a tangible reminder that holiness is not a thing of the past or extraordinary people, but is available to everyone, even young people.

Avoid “magical devotion”

However, Mons. Sorrentino also warns about the need for a correct understanding of relics so as not to end up linking them with superstition.

“Sometimes you have to regret that, for less educated people there may be a certain tendency to magical devotion. This is something we must correct,” he says.

Thus, he ensures that the relics are, above all, a channel that must “lead to the saint, and even beyond, Jesus.” “The important thing is that this contact with the saints leads everyone to the desire to become saints,” he says.

For the Italian prelate, the contact with Carlos Acutis’s relics should light a desire for living with radicals his faith and for falling in love with the Eucharist “as he did.”

An adequate catechesis

In this sense, the bishop specifies that it is necessary that the emotion that awakens its canonization is accompanied by a deeper and more brave understanding of the meaning of holiness.

Therefore, he defends the need to develop “adequate catechesis” around the figure of Carlo Acutis “so that its meaning is fully understood.”

“If your canonization does not lead only to a certain emotional affectation, but to a better understanding of the Christian faith, then we can be truly happy,” he concludes.