RIDGEWOOD — On Sunday, Oct. 2, the Italian apostolate of the Diocese of Brooklyn unveiled its first statue of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the internet-savvy teen who is on track to become the first Millennial saint.

The occasion was the apostolate’s annual celebration, held this year at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Ridgewood, Queens. About 500 people from parishes across the diocese attended.

Msgr. David Cassato, director of the apostolate, said a “generous donor” from that parish offered to pay the $7,000 cost of the statue.

The new statue’s permanent home will be a shrine at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish in Williamsburg, where it will be the centerpiece of a shrine inside the church. Msgr. Cassato, who now lives there, said he hoped to add relics of the would-be saint to the shrine.

“I can’t say I guarantee it, but I would venture to guess it’s the first statue of Carlo Acutis in the United States,” Msgr. Cassato said. “You should see it.”

The statue invokes comparisons to a superhero — a young man with a ramrod-straight posture, a piercing gaze, and a mane of thick dark hair. 

“He has a backpack, and he’s wearing khaki pants and sneakers,” Msgr. Cassato said. “He has a cell phone in his hand and a water bottle in the backpack. And he has the sign of the Eucharist on his chest.”

Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio said during the mass that celebrated Blessed Acutis as “a saint of our times who calls out to our young people to grow closer to the Eucharist.”

Blessed Acutis was 15 when he died of leukemia in 2006 in Monza, Italy. During his short life, he mastered computer programming and created a website documenting Eucharistic miracles. 

His inspiration was the Eucharist itself, which was core to his life. He attended Mass and recited the Rosary daily. He was beatified two years ago at the Basilica of St. Francis Assisi after a miracle attributed to his intercession was officially verified by the Vatican. He can become a saint if a second verified miracle is attributed to him.

“It’s good for youth devotion,” said Msgr Cassato, who is also the vicar of Catholic schools for the diocese. “He was 15, with tremendous skill with the Internet in spreading devotions to the Eucharist.”