LA archbishop dedicates chapel with relics of 3 young saints, including Carlo Acutis
Archbishop José Gomez dedicated a new chapel featuring the relics of three young saints in Los Angeles’ Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Sept. 7.
Archbishop José Gomez dedicated a new chapel featuring the relics of three young saints in Los Angeles’ Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Sept. 7.
The dedication occurred after Mass in the cathedral. In his homily, the archbishop reflected on what the faithful can learn from the lives of saints who died young.
“If you want to be Jesus’ disciple, you have to put Jesus, God, first in your life,” the archbishop said in his homily, which was livestreamed along with the Mass and dedication on YouTube.
Archbishop Gomez also reflected on their legacy in a recent column, writing, “Our new young saints teach us that we can root our lives in a deep friendship with Jesus. They teach us that holiness is possible in our ordinary, daily lives, and that by our love, we can bring our neighbors and loved ones to know the friendship with Jesus that we know.”
The Chapel of the Young Witnesses features religious images of Saints Carlo Acutis, Maria Goretti, and José Sánchez del Río along with relics of each saint.
Each of the three saints featured in the chapel died at a young age. St. Carlo was 15, St. José was 14, and St. Maria was 11.
“These young saints, though taken from this world at a young age, blazed a trail of holiness through radiant lives rooted in deep friendship with Jesus — reminding us that holiness is not a distant dream, but a real and attainable path,” said the archdiocese’s press release, which was distributed via email.
On the same day as the chapel dedication, Pope Leo XIV declared Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati saints.
In his homily for the canonization Mass, Pope Leo XIV reflected on several saints who turned to God as young people. He encouraged young people in particular to look to their witness.
“Dear friends, Saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces,” Pope Leo said. “They encourage us with their words: ‘Not I, but God,’ as Carlo used to say. And Pier Giorgio: ‘If you have God at the center of all your actions, then you will reach the end.’ This is the simple but winning formula of their holiness.”
