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What started with the acquisition of a first-class relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis – three hairs from the Italian blessed’s head – has grown into a veritable triumvirate of young saints' relics in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. After recently receiving a second relic, skin from St. Maria Goretti, Father Gustavo Vidal traveled to Mexico in order to obtain a third: a sliver of bone from St. Jose Luis Sanchez Del Rio.
Intermountain Catholic reports that the relics are now part of the collection of the Blessed Carlo Acutis Apostolate, which hopes to draw young Catholics to the faith through promoting the example of these heroes.
While they are housed at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, they will be brought to locations throughout the diocese for veneration and to promote the Catholic witness of these faithful teenage saints.
Father Vidal, director of the apostolate and pastor of St. Rose of Lima, commented on the apostolate’s youth outreach:
“They [these saints] are all young people -- teenagers -- and one of the things that we want to do is to present them, to introduce them, to talk to the kids [about them] as models of holiness, that besides the many things that the world offers them – drugs, sex, phones, whatever else is out there – there is also another option in life for them, and that is holiness of life,” Fr. Vidal said. “We want to tell the kids, you know, that they can give their lives to the Lord as those teenagers did.”
Director of the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry Michael Edwards explained that the apostolate felt it was important to acquire relics from young saints, as young Catholics may more easily connect with their testimony and their life stories:
“What we’re trying to do with these younger saints is show our youth in the State of Utah and the Diocese of Salt Lake City that there are many young saints out there and that they can be saints, too, and they can live a life that is remarkable and something that we should all aspire to,” Edwards said.
A pilgrimage destination
Organizers of the apostolate intend for the presence of the relics to turn St. Rose of Lima Church into a pilgrimage site that will give teenagers the opportunity to encounter Christ and the young saints. Edwards noted that while the efforts are still focused within the diocese, that St. Rose of Lima will welcome pilgrims from around the world before long.
He went on to describe the tremendous response that the apostolate has already seen from young Catholics. In April, the relic of Bl. Carlo Acutis was brought to St. Francis of Assisi Parish, where there was a line of hundreds of teenagers stretched out the door to venerate the relic.
“I cannot tell you how long that line was for the kids to come up and touch their rosaries or their crosses to the relic to make them a third-class relic; it was really kind of a frenzy,” Edwards said. “The kids were excited about it; they wanted to know how it happened and what it meant and how they could do it. There were so many kids that wanted to participate in that and have a close connection with Carlo.”
