When Blessed Carlos Acutis Came to the South Bronx

NOTE: This article was written previous to the passing of Pope Francis today. My prayers go out for him and the Church at this time of mourning.

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“So what does this mean about his Canonization?” my friend Dan asked, breaking the silence as we discussed Pope Francis’ health a few weeks earlier.

I honestly had no idea.

All I knew was that my flight hadn’t booked yet.

The Canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis was set for April 27th, during the Jubilee of Teenagers in St. Peter’s Square. Normally, such a profound declaration would come from Pope Francis himself. But now, with the news of the his illness, there was some question about that.

But truth be told, my plan had never been to witness the ceremony in Rome. Instead, I wanted to travel to Milan, Carlo’s home parish, to spend the days surrounding the Canonization among the people who knew him best in the place where he himself, grew in Holiness. I’d shared this vision with my friends at EWTN, and thankfully, they embraced it enthusiastically. Suddenly, I felt like the dog who’d finally caught the bus…and the only thing left was to hang on.

My first encounter with the millennial saint had been both unexpected and profound. It was 2021, Catholic New York had reached out, asking if I could cover the arrival of a relic of the recently beatified Carlo Acutis, the first time his heart relic would visit the United States. There would be Mass celebrated by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi, and New York’s newly elevated Auxiliary Bishop, Joseph Espaillat. There would be Holy Hour, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and veneration of his relic. And it would all take place at St. Rita’s in the South Bronx.

My eyes widened.

St. Rita’s?

In the South Bronx?

By all accounts, St. Rita’s could easily be mistaken for a basement, with its worn linoleum floors, low ceilings, and a simplicity that stood in stark contrast to the grandeur of St. Patrick’s some 100 or so blocks south. Yet what it lacked in architectural beauty, it more than made up for in Sanctity. It was here, in this humble parish, that all manner of devotions flourished with passion and depth. Here was the home of the 2000 Hail Mary’s devotion, the unrelenting Bronx Witness for Life, and it’s butted up against the convent of the Missionaries of Charity, whose courtyard is home to a few crooked apple trees.

So when the relic arrived earlier in the day, placed reverently beside the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance, the profound simplicity of the place suddenly made perfect sense.

This place is about one thing.

Soon after, people began streaming into the small church, many with tears streaming down their faces. Awe and wonder filled the air, transforming this modest parish into a sanctuary of Grace.

When the long black cars carrying Cardinal Dolan and the bishops arrived at the litter-strewn curb on 145th Street, the striking contrasts became vividly clear. As the clergy warmly greeted the community on that cracked sidewalk, the humble scene recalled the Magi visiting Christ in Bethlehem. Within the ordinary, something extraordinary was unfolding.

Later, as I approached Carlo Acutis’ relic, I felt humbled. Before this day, I’d only known Carlo from brief stories. He was a tech-savvy teen who evangelized passionately online. Yet here, in this humble Bronx parish, I discovered that Carlo’s true legacy was not merely technological innovation, but his profound and all-encompassing love of Christ. And how he carried Christ’s love to others. His heart, now physically among us, still radiated that same deep love, calling each of us toward Christ.

And standing there, in a church stripped of grand architecture and ornate comforts, I understood why Carlo’s relic had first been brought here, to this simple, humble sanctuary.

Because once the stained glass is stripped away, once the vaulted ceilings and marble pillars are set aside, and once we step beyond the comforts of wealth and worldly security, we are left with just one thing—the one thing Carlo knew intimately, the very essence that St. Rita’s embodies every day:

The only thing that matters.

Jesus Christ, Himself.

As I made my way through the streets of the South Bronx to return home, I couldn’t help but smile in awe at the boundless grace God pours upon this world. It’s inspiring to witness lives that so thoroughly embrace His will…lives like Blessed Carlo’s, and know that this Grace is Calling each of us as well.

And that perhaps one day, if we cooperate with that Grace and joyfully offer our lives to Christ, we might be on the path to sainthood as well.

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