This July, parishioners across the Diocese of Lismore will have the rare opportunity to welcome a first-class pilgrim relic of St Carlo Acutis, the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.
Born in London in 1991 to an Italian family, Carlo grew up in Milan, and from the time of his First Communion at age seven, daily Mass, the rosary, and Eucharistic adoration became central to his life. His most notable contribution was creating a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles from around the world, a project he undertook to inspire devotion to the Eucharist, which he lovingly called his “highway to heaven.”
Carlo was diagnosed with leukaemia and died at just fifteen years old in 2006, but throughout his illness he displayed immense courage and unwavering faith. He has since achieved a remarkable level of global resonance among young Catholics, who see him as a relatable “digital disciple” for the modern age: someone whose ordinary teenage life was radically oriented toward God.
He was canonised on 7 September 2025, becoming the first millennial to be officially recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church.
The first-class pilgrim relic, consists of a section of St Carlo’s pericardium, the protective sac around his heart, will visit three locations across the diocese:
- Tuesday 7 July — St Carthage’s Parish, Lismore
- Wednesday 8 July — St Mary’s Parish, Casino
- Friday 10 July — St Agnes’ Parish, Port Macquarie
At each location there will be opportunities for Mass, veneration, adoration, and catechesis exploring St Carlo’s life and his remarkable work in documenting Eucharistic Miracles around the world. For more information and timings, please contact the local parish.
As we prepare to welcome him, we invite you to reflect on the words of St Carlo:
“Everyday life should be understood in the atmosphere of baptism. This atmosphere is a different air, a different climate, a different land, a different region. If we enter into this order of ideas and ideals, evangelisation becomes a new and renewing fact.”
