Bishop Solis presides over thanksgiving celebration for the first millennial saint: Carlo Acutis

Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

SALT LAKE CITY — Dozens of young Catholics packed the pews at St. Ann Catholic Church on Sept. 12 to celebrate the canonization of Saint Carlo Acutis.

Bishop Oscar A. Solis presided at the Mass of Thanksgiving. Concelebrating were Father Langes J. Silva, diocesan judicial vicar; Father Gustavo Vidal, pastor of Saint Rose of Lima Parish and director of the Carlo Acutis Apostolate; Father Carlos Guzman, RCJ, administrator of St. Ann Parish and diocesan vocations director; Father Ryan Jimenez, RCJ, St. Ann’s parochial vicar;  Father Jose (Joshua) Santos, pastor of Saint Joseph Parish in Ogden; and Father Andre Sicard, assistant to the judicial vicar and assistant director of vocations. Several diocesan deacons were also in attendance.

Bishop Solis welcomed all who were attending, stating that he was very excited to be there that evening “and to see young people like you. … I feel young at heart.”

Everyone was gathered “in a spirit of thanksgiving for the canonization of Saint Carlo Acutis. … You are a blessing for the Church,” he said. “With joy in our hearts let’s unite in the celebration for the Holy Eucharist.”

During his homily Bishop Solis stated that the Thanksgiving Mass was a joyful occasion to celebrate the canonization of the first millennial saint.

“Every time that we celebrate Mass we encounter God through the manifestation of the Holy Eucharist. … Through it we are reminded that God is with us,” he said adding that that evening “we are giving thanks for Saint Carlo Acutis, who like you enjoyed sports, video games, wore blue jeans and sneakers.” 

The bishop asked the youth if they could relate to the new saint, who “had an ordinary life, like all of us. But an ordinary life that became extraordinary. He is Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint and known in the Catholic Church as ‘God’s influencer,’” Bishop Solis said, adding that Saint Carlo Acutis learned how to put the Gospel into action, and was not scared to let everyone he encountered know that he was Catholic.

“He used to say, ‘Not me but God.’ … In other words he lived his life not about himself but about Jesus,” Bishop Solis said.

St. Carlo dedicated his life to sharing the Gospel, using his computer knowledge so others could encounter God in their lives, and by doing so made a huge difference, Bishop Solis said.

“Sainthood is not about beautiful words, it is about the faith, love and good works. He embodied all that,” Bishop Solis said. 

At the Thanksgiving Mass, Cesar Basteregi, a parishioner of Saint Joseph in Ogden, said that he was very happy and emotional.

“To have a saint that was like us, that dressed like us, that lived like us, is something that has made me reflect a lot of the goodness of our faith,” said Basteregi, who is 18 years old. “Now I know that we can all be saints if we really open our hearts to Jesus.”

St. Carlo Acutis died of leukemia at age 15. His funeral was held in Milan, but he was entombed in Assisi, where he rests in a glass-fronted tomb that shows viewers the ordinariness of his life: he is wearing jeans, Nike sneakers and a sweatshirt. 

St. Carlo Acutis was canonized on Sept. 7 in Rome, along with Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young Italian who was dedicated to social justice issues and who died in 1925 of polio at the age of 24. Tens of thousands of people packed into St. Peter’s Square for the canonization ceremony. Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Mass at which they were pronounced saints. 

These were the first saints declared by the new pope.

In his homily, Pope Leo praised the two young men who “cultivated their love for God and for their brothers and sisters through simple acts, available to everyone,” like prayer and going to Mass. He added that the two were “an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upward and make them masterpieces.”

The Vatican has declared two healings to be miracles attributed to St. Carlo’s intercession. One involved an ill child in Brazil who was said to become well after he prayed and kissed a relic of St. Carlo Acutis. The second involved a young Costa Rican woman who was seriously injured in a bicycle accident in Florence; she recovered after her mother prayed at Carlo’s tomb in Assisi.