The ceremony not only marked a milestone for students and faculty, but for the nation, too, as Bishop Carroll became one of the first Catholic schools in the United States to dedicate a worship space to the teenager who died in 2006, was beatified in 2020 and canonized in September 2025.

While having the space dedicated to Acutis is meaningful for the adults, Bishop Carroll Principal Jonathan Nagy said it is especially meaningful to the students.

“The chapel is here for them,” he said, noting Acutis was a child of the millennium and students connect with his story because he is “one of them.”

According to the official website for Acutis, he was a devout Catholic who, ever since he received his first communion at the age of 7, never missed an appointment with daily Mass.

A relic of Saint Carlo Acutis and a framed picture hang in the Bishop Carroll chapel, now named after Acutis. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow.

He was diagnosed with leukemia and died in 2006 at the age of 15.

Although his life on earth was short, he was well known for his computer technology skills and is credited with creating a website cataloging reported Eucharistic miracles around the world. He enjoyed sports, comics and video games, all interests that resonate with today’s youths.

Acutis is a “saint for teenagers” and “of today’s world,” said Father Matthew Reese of Our Lady of the Alleghenies parish in Lilly, adding “it’s very appropriate” to rededicate the Bishop Carroll High School chapel in Acutis’ honor.

Acutis can now be “a patron for this particular school and the students who come through here,” Reese said.

“Our students are in the chapel all the time,” Nagy said, emphasizing that for students to have a saint and role model who is also someone their age is truly remarkable.

Father Kevin Queally of Saint Mary's Parish in Nanty Glo places a relic from Saint Carlo Acutis on the altar during the chapel rededication ceremony. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow.

The school also has a relic associated with Acutis — a lock of hair encased in a display.

After a Mass celebrated by Bishop Mark L. Bartchak, the relic was placed on its dedicated shelf in the chapel by students Katie Thompson and Logan Klatt.

Thompson said Acutis was a “really good role model” for everyone.

“I wouldn’t think to use the internet to spread God’s message,” she said, referencing the online database Acutis created.

“It’s wonderful” that the chapel is named after the millennial saint, she said.

Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese recites prayers Tuesday morning during Bishop Carroll's chapel rededication to honor Saint Carlo Acutis, who kept an internet database of miracles but died in 2006 to leukemia. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow.

“Everyone in here (is a) teenager, which makes it a bigger deal because he’s our age,” Klatt said.

Older saints who lived years ago “seem like pieces of history that we’re never going to be able to quite understand,” Thompson said. Acutis, she said, “showed a way to live out the message in the modern world.”

Bringing the relic home

Acutis was named a saint on Sept. 7, 2025, but efforts to acquire a relic and rededicate the chapel in his honor began well before that.

Nagy, who found Acutis’ story compelling several years ago, asked Bartchak to seek permission from the Vatican to rededicate Bishop Carroll’s then-newly renovated chapel to Acutis. That request was turned down.

Priests and students stand together on Tuesday morning at the Bishop Carroll chapel rededication. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow.

But Bishop Carroll received a permanent first-class relic associated with Acutis from the Bishop of Assisi after Bartchak wrote inquiring about dedicating the school’s chapel to Acutis.

The only catch?

Someone had to pick up the relic in person in Assisi, Italy.

Luckily, Father David Bonarrigo, a Spanish teacher at Bishop Carroll, knew Father Kevin Queally from St. Mary’s Parish in Nanty Glo. Queally was already planning a pilgrimage to Assisi in February 2024.

Queally went to the Palazzo Vescovile in Assisi and picked up the relic for the school.

The Bishop Carroll liturgical ensemble plays on Tuesday morning during Mass before the chapel rededication. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow.

“Of course, I did not put it in my checked luggage,” Queally said. Instead, he held the relic on his lap during his 10-hour flight back to America.

Acutis’ relic is encased in a reliquary protected by a glass box designed and built by Spanish teacher Ray Seymour.

Queally said he was happy to bring the relic to Bishop Carroll, where students can have a “real connection” to someone with whom they identify.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.

Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese gives a homily on Tuesday morning during Mass before the chapel rededication with a relic of Saint Carlo Acutis displayed. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow.

Junior Colin Beswenger (right) and Ethan Holtz play acoustic guitars with the Bishop Carroll liturgical ensemble on Tuesday morning during Mass before the chapel rededication. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow.