PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of the Diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino was recently presented with the Oct. 15 edition of The Tablet featuring the Diocese of Brooklyn’s dedication of a statue of Blessed Carlo Acutis.

The tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis is located in the diocese where Archbishop Sorrentino serves — housed in the Sanctuary of the Renunciation, a part of the Church of St. Mary Major in Assisi, Italy.

Vincent LeVien, director of external affairs at DeSales Media Group, the communications and technology ministry and parent company of The Tablet, traveled to Assisi on Oct. 16 and met with Archbishop Sorrentino a few days later. 

It was during that meeting that LeVien gave him a copy of the newspaper.

“He looked at the front page of the newspaper, and then he opened it up and read it. He asked me, ‘Can I keep it?’ I said, of course,” LeVien recalled.

Archbishop Sorrentino also requested that a photo be taken of him holding the paper. He was pleased that an American Catholic newspaper was giving Blessed Carlo Acutis such prominent coverage, LeVien said.

The Blessed Carlo Acutis statue that appeared on The Tablet’s front page was officially unveiled during a celebration of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Italian Apostolate at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Ridgewood on Oct. 2.

The statue has since been moved to its permanent home — the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg.

The Italian teenager, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, was beatified in 2020 and is on track to become the Catholic Church’s first Millennial saint.

Archbishop Sorrentino came to the U.S. In April with a first-class relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis — a portion of the membrane that surrounded his heart — and the Diocese of Brooklyn was among the places he visited with the relic.

Pave the Way Foundation, a New York-based group that works to initiate cultural and educational exchanges between religions, helped organize Archbishop Sorrentino’s journey to the U.S.

During his stay, he presented the relic at a prayer service at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Astoria on April 4 and at a rally for high school students at Holy Family Church in Fresh Meadows on April 6. 

“I think it touched him to see the connection the young people of our diocese had with Blessed Carlo,” LeVien said.