Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago will Host a Week-long Celebration of the Bringing Together of Two Parishes Starting With The Exposition of Blessed Carlo’s Relics on Wednesday, June 1 at St. John Berchmans Church and Concluding with a Special Unification Mass on Sunday, June 5 at 11 a.m. at St. Hedwig Church
Chicago, (June 1, 2022) – Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish, the newly unified parish of St. John Berchmans Church and St. Hedwig Church, will host a Celebration Week leading to the feast day of its namesake, Blessed Carlo Acutis the first Millennial considered for sainthood.
Dr. Geraldine Rohling, archivist and curator of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., a renowned lecturer will speak on the communion of saints, canonization and the Eucharist. Her remarks will be available via livestream.
Tomorrow evening, Wednesday, June 1, at 7 p.m., Rohling will present on the communion of saints at St. John Berchmans Church, 2519 W Logan Blvd in Chicago. Livestream link: https://youtu.be/SUxlpWYsDgE
At 7 p.m. on the following day, Thursday, June 2, Rohling will present on the Eucharist at St. Hedwig Church, 2226 N. Hoyne Ave., in Chicago. Livestream link: https://youtu.be/VLbd5-LilkM
Celebration Week will conclude on Sunday, June 5, at St. Hedwig Church with the Unification Mass and installation of Rev. Tomasz Wojciechowski as pastor of the newly unified parish. The Mass will also available via livestream at https://youtu.be/Z4t5s4ZrhwU
In 2022, Pope Francis named Rohling a Dame of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, at the request of Wilton Cardinal Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Shrine. This papal honor was in recognition of Rohling's "excellence and exceptional work," which included building and establishing the archive at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish is the first parish in the Western hemisphere to be named after Blessed Carlo, a 15-year-old Italian boy, He is already being referred to as the “patron saint of the internet” for creating a website that cataloged and promoted Eucharistic miracles.
Blessed Carlo died of leukemia in 2006 within a week of his diagnosis. He was beatified last October in Assisi, Italy, where he is buried. Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to Blessed Carlo, the healing of a 7-year-old Brazilian boy from a rare pancreatic illness after coming into contact with a Blessed Carlo relic.
