Germany: young Germans welcome relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis. First stop in Munich on 21 July

From Sunday 21 July, the relic of the heart of Blessed Carlo Acutis will be in Germany for five stops before travelling to Holland and Belgium. After the first stop in Munich, the reliquary will be taken to the Weltenburg Monastery, then Cologne, Berlin, and Hamburg. The cult of the “Apostle of the Internet” has spread significantly in Germany since the first months after the young man’s death in 2006. The Church of the Holy Spirit at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich will welcome the faithful next Sunday: there is great excitement about the date of his canonisation, which has already been decided by Pope Francis but has not yet been announced. The priest of the parish of the Holy Spirit, Father Daniel Lerch, expects “large crowds of young people at the evening Mass”. For several years, a relic obtained from the hair of Carlo Acutis has been kept in the disused tabernacle of a side altar in the church, and many young people would like to receive “a blessing with our relic of Blessed Carlo”. In the Church of the Holy Spirit, 133 young people have committed to praying one hour each week for Blessed Carlo. On Monday, Father Marco Gaballo of Assisi, who has custody of the relic on this journey, will travel to the monastery of Weltenburg. Even the Bishop of Regensburg, Mgr Rudolf Voderholzer, will participate in the celebrations for Carlo Acutis. The other stops in Germany include St. Clemens in Berlin, the Cologne Cathedral, and the Holy Cross Church in Neugraben, Hamburg.
Massimo Lavena