Saint Carlo Acutis, 20 years on: Milan and his parish
12 October 2026 marked 20 years since Saint Carlo Acutis died. At 9 p.m. Archbishop Mario Delpini was scheduled to celebrate Mass in the Milan parish Carlo attended every day. Parish youth groups are celebrating with “Santi con Carlo” too.
Carlo is known around the world, not least for how he used the internet to share his love of the Eucharist. But before the websites, pilgrimages and major celebrations, he was a boy from Milan, with school, friends, a neighbourhood and a church close to home.
Santa Maria Segreta: his everyday church
Santa Maria Segreta, on Piazza Nicolò Tommaseo, was Carlo's parish. He prayed and attended Mass here, received his confirmation in 2003 and volunteered to help with catechism classes. Since his canonisation on 7 September 2025, this connection to his daily life has attracted visitors from far away.
On Monday 12 October 2026, at 9 p.m., Archbishop Mario Delpini was scheduled to preside over a Mass for Carlo's liturgical feast. Twenty years have passed since 12 October 2006, when Carlo died at San Gerardo Hospital in Monza.
“Santi con Carlo”: a celebration in parish youth centres
Fondazione Oratori Milanesi is organising “Santi con Carlo”, a celebration for preteens in parish youth centres. Activities, games and prayer invite young people to get to know Carlo without turning him into someone remote from the lives of children his age today.
The Eucharist, personal prayer and care for friends and people in poverty are central themes. In 2026, they also connect with the 800th anniversary of St Francis's death: Carlo loved Assisi and wanted to be buried there.
A relic and a connection between Milan and Assisi
Since 2024, Fondazione Oratori Milanesi has organised a travelling prayer initiative with a relic of Carlo, welcomed by communities that request it. From 10 to 15 October 2026, the relic was scheduled to be at Santa Maria della Passione, in Milan's Santi Profeti pastoral community.
The “Lampada degli oratori” (Lamp of the Parish Youth Centres), beside Carlo's tomb in the Sanctuary of the Renunciation in Assisi, expresses the same connection. Oil offered by the young people of Milan's parish youth centres symbolises a prayer that continues to travel.
October dates and the December pilgrimage
• 12 October, 9 p.m.: Mass with Archbishop Delpini at Santa Maria Segreta, Piazza Nicolò Tommaseo, Milan.
• 10–15 October: Carlo's relic at Santa Maria della Passione, Milan.
• 5–8 December 2026: pilgrimage for parish youth groups to Assisi. Registration through FOM was scheduled to open on 12 October; check official information for availability and how to register.
Read on with Carlo Acutis's story, our special feature, the quiz about Carlo and the documentary coming to cinemas. Also read “We laughed too much”: Federico Oldani remembers Carlo in Saronno.
