While the world celebrated the canonization of Saint Carlo Acutis in Rome on Sept. 7, 2025, one special detail stood out: the very first parish in the world dedicated to the “internet saint” in São Paulo, Brazil.
A Parish in the Heart of Santo Amaro
Founded in 2023, Saint Carlo Acutis Parish is located inside the Italian-Brazilian Catholic University Center (popularly known as UniÍtalo) in Santo Amaro. The bishop responsible for the project, who is from Milan (Carlo’s hometown), chose to dedicate the chapel to the young saint in order to inspire students with his example of living holiness in the modern world.
Parish priest Father Diego Santana Dias explained:
“We wanted to show young people a figure close to them, an example who could speak to their reality. And Carlo is exactly that: a teenager like so many, who knew how to live holiness in his daily life.”
A Precious Treasure: The First-Class Relic
The parish also houses a powerful treasure: a first-class relic of Saint Carlo Acutis—a fragment of his skin.
Though the chapel is small, with only 12 pews, it carries immense spiritual significance. Alongside images of Christ and the Virgin Mary stands a statue of Carlo, dressed just as he lived and was buried—in jeans, sneakers, and a polo shirt.
The “Patron Saint of the Internet”
Carlo is known as the “patron saint of the internet” for creating a digital exhibition of Eucharistic miracles that spread across the world. He died in 2006 from leukemia, offering his suffering for the Pope and the Church.
His short but powerful life shows that sainthood is not just for the past—you can be young, tech-savvy, love video games, and still be deeply united with Jesus in the Eucharist.
A Special Bond with Brazil
Brazil already had a unique connection to Saint Carlo. His first recognized miracle occurred there in 2010, when a boy from Mato Grosso do Sul was cured of a serious pancreatic illness after touching a relic of the young saint.
Now, Brazil’s link to Saint Carlo grows even stronger as the country becomes home to the first parish in the world dedicated to him.
Is it providence that Brazil has such a deep connection with Saint Carlo Acutis?