Statue of Carlo Acutis enthroned in Argentine cathedral

The statue of Blessed Carlo Acutis was installed in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mercy in the Diocese of Chascomús, Argentina, on Aug. 17, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Monignor Juan Ignacio Liébana, at the Cathedral

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug 24, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Argentine Diocese of Chascomús enthroned a statue of soon-to-be-canonized Carlo Acutis in Our Lady of Mercy Cathedral on Aug. 17.

The image of the young man, whom Pope Leo XIV will proclaim a saint on Sept. 7, stands 5.5 feet tall and was donated by the Carlo Acutis Chascomús Argentina group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading the life, witness, and spirituality of the future Italian saint.

The statue was enthroned during a Mass offered in the cathedral by the diocesan bishop, Juan Ignacio Liébana. “We want Carlo to touch the hearts of young Argentines and for his witness to be a seed of faith in difficult times,” said Lía Scardigno, who promoted the project.

The enthronement of the image crowns a series of enthronements of pictures of Carlo Acutis in nearly 20 locations throughout the diocese in addition to the basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Luján, the administrative office of Argentine Catholic University, the Blessed Sacrament Basilica in Buenos Aires, parishes, hospitals, nursing homes, and rural communities.

On the eve of the enthronement, the group received a very special greeting from Antonia Salzano, Carlo Acutis’ mother, who assured them that the image “will bring many graces, and also be a sign of hope for you.”

“We are all called to be saints,” she noted. “It’s a call that God gives to all of us, but fulfilling it is not easy, but it can be done, because the Lord gives us the means through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which is the most supernatural presence we have on earth, which is God with us. Naturally, the highway to heaven, as Carlo said.”

In this regard, she added: “You have sacred Scripture, which is important; you have prayer, and above all, the sacraments. God, through the sacraments, gives us the grace to become holy and to win the final victory,” she emphasized, hoping “that this sign will truly be a help to you: a friend who is with you to pray, to obtain your sanctification, and above all, to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, because that is what you are.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.