(ZENIT News / Assisi, 09.15.2025).- On Friday, September 5, a new sculpture of Saint Carlo Acutis was unveiled at the entrance of the Bishop’s Residence, after the evening Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore.
Acutis was canonized by Pope Leo XIV in a ceremony held in St. Peter’s Square. Within the Sanctuary of the Spogliation are now two statues: one honoring St. Francis, and another dedicated to Acutis, who is buried precisely in this place.
The bronze work was created by Canadian artist Timothy Paul Schmalz and was blessed by the bishop of the dioceses of Assisi – Nocera Umbra – Gualdo Tadino and of Foligno, Msgr. Domenico Sorrentino, in the presence of the rector of the Sanctuary of the Spogliation, Father Marco Gaballo, the mayor of Assisi, Valter Stoppini, and several Capuchin friars, among them Father Carlos Acácio Gonçalves Ferreira, former rector of the same shrine.
“This is a beautiful moment that enriches a great history. Since 2006, what has been happening here is truly astonishing. I, involved from the very beginning in this story of grace, never cease to witness wonderful things, and sometimes I can hardly believe my own eyes. The Lord has truly looked upon this, His beloved city, Assisi—this city blessed with its great saints, Francis and Clare—and He has wished to make a new plant blossom here, a flower that speaks to the world in the footsteps of the two saints who give Assisi its character,” said Bishop Sorrentino, referring to Saint Carlo Acutis.
The bishop explained, “I had never heard of him when I arrived here. In 2006, I came, and he died. I began to hear his name at the Assisi cemetery. People were coming in search of his grave. Then a great sign appeared in the parish of Santa Maria Maggiore, which I entrusted to the Capuchins in view of this Sanctuary—a shrine that at that time I could not even imagine would become so beautiful and important—and then I received a great sign.”
Msgr. Sorrentino described the statue as “worthy of being in this place next to St. Francis, who naturally shines forth. Francis is the giant, and Carlo, at his side, is the child: the child who knew how to climb onto the shoulders of the giant, for that is what holiness is. Holiness is always reaching higher, climbing onto the shoulders of giants to reach Jesus.”
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