WILLIAMSBURG — Like many young Catholics around the world, Khloe Chavez, a sixth grader at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy in Corona, feels an affinity with Blessed Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager on track to become the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint. 

But Khloe has something most kids don’t have — a special connection to the would-be saint’s mom. 

Antonia Salzano, the mother of Acutis, recently stunned Khloe by reaching out to her with a video message to encourage the youngster to love the Eucharist as her son did. 

“I was kind of surprised because that’s crazy, a soon-to-be saint’s mother sending me a video like that,” Khloe said, describing her reaction to receiving the personal greeting from Salzano, whom she has never met. 

Not only that, but Salzano also sent Khloe a prayer card containing a gift — a tiny piece of a sweater worn by her son. It is a gift that Khloe treasures. 

Father Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church, heard about the video from Khloe’s dad, Johnny Chavez. The priest showed the video to the entire school, making the shy sixth grader an instant star among her peers. 

In the video, Salzano greets Khloe by name. “I know you love Carlo. Carlo loves you too,” she tells her. 

Salzano also urges Khloe to remember that the Eucharist is the most important thing in life — something her late son is known to have said repeatedly throughout his short life. 

Acutis was famous even in life as an innovator who created a website dedicated to chronicling all of the verified Eucharistic miracles in the world. 

The Italian teenager, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, was beatified in 2020 — giving him the title of blessed — after a miracle attributed to his intercession was confirmed by the Vatican. The next and final step to sainthood is canonization, which will take place if a second miracle is verified.

The connection to his mother came courtesy of a Chavez family friend who attended a religious conference where Salzano was also present and approached her to tell her to tell her about Khloe’s devotion to Acutis. 

Ever since learning about Acutis in school last year, Khloe has prayed every night for his intercession and keeps prayer cards with his image in the Williamsburg apartment where she lives with her parents and seven siblings.

“I relate to him because I’m young and he’s young,” Khloe explained. She also admires his use of technology. “That’s cool because I use technology and social media,” she added. 

The Chavez children attend Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy, even though they live in Williamsburg, because of the family’s friendship with Father Rodríguez, the former pastor of Saints Peter and Paul-Epiphany Parish in Williamsburg. 

The Chavezes are followers of the Neocatechumenal Way within the Catholic Church, and the friend who met Salzano is also a Neocatechumenal follower. 

Khloe’s mom and dad, Keila and Johnny, lead their children in morning prayers every day and talk about the lives of the saints to bring them closer to the faith. “We always tell them that we are all called to be saints. The saints’ lives are just like ours. They have struggles,” Johnny Chavez said. 

The Salzano video is deeply meaningful, not only to Khloe but to the whole family, he said. “I was surprised that the mother of a soon-to-be saint was sending a message to my daughter. For me, it was a big deal. You don’t get that opportunity, just once in a lifetime,” he explained. 

The fact that Acutis, someone so young who lived in the 21st century and was laid to rest in a tracksuit and Nike sneakers, could possibly become a saint has generated a great deal of excitement among young Catholics around the world. 

The same is true of students at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy, Father Rodríguez said. “They identify themselves with this young man. He is really an amazing model for them,” he added. 

The school has a banner hanging near the entrance dedicated to Acutis and the church is currently raising money to purchase a statue of him. 

Young people in the Diocese of Brooklyn have a special affinity with Acutis, thanks in part to Italian Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of the Diocese of Assisi, who came to the diocese in 2022 with a first-class relic of the young would-be saint during a tour of the U.S. 

Hundreds of students got the chance to venerate the relic — a small portion of the membrane that surrounded his heart — at a prayer service at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Astoria and at a rally at Holy Family Church in Fresh Meadows. 

The diocese dedicated a statue to Acutis that stands at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg. In July, St. Joseph Church in Astoria installed a statue of him as part of a Saints Cove dedicated to cancer patients and their families. 

Meanwhile, Khloe said the video from Salzano has inspired her to live out her faith in a deeper way and talk more openly about Acutis.