Carlo Acutis' heart relic to make 18-day pilgrimage in the Philippines
A relic of St. Carlo Acutis will tour around the Philippines for 18 days.
According to CBCP News, the pericardium heart relic, or a piece of the newly canonized saint's heart, has arrived in the country on Thursday, Nov, 27, and will go around 16 dioceses. The pilgrimage will end on Dec. 15.
Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo of the Diocese of Assisi, overseer of the relic’s travels abroad, said the pilgrimage aims to inspire young people and deepen their faith.
“Young people, you are all invited to come and venerate the relic of St. Carlo Acutis,” he said in a video message.
The first stop is at Malolos Cathedral on Nov. 28, presided by Bishop Dennis Villarojo, followed by a public veneration.
The relic tour was organized by local bishops and the Friends of Blessed Carlo Acutis Philippines, a group promoting devotion to the saint.
The relic will visit at least 30 churches across Luzon, including the Catholic Social Media Summit at Manila’s Pius XII Catholic Center on Dec. 5.
Acutis was canonized as a saint on Sept. 7, alongside Dominican layman Pier Giorgio Frassati.
He is known as the "first millennial saint" and God's influencer, after learning computer coding to build websites to spread his faith. He died on Oct. 12, 2006, due to leukemia.
Acutis is also credited with the healing of a 4-year-old Brazilian boy with a serious pancreatic malformation and of a 21-year-old Costa Rican woman who neared death after a bicycle accident.
