CATANIA, Sicily — Pope Leo XIV sent Cardinal Pietro Parolin as his Pontifical Legate to Catania for celebrations marking 900 years since the relics of Saint Agatha returned to the Sicilian city.
The August 17 anniversary commemorates the return of the relics in 1126, an event that gave rise to Catania’s summer feast of its patron saint, known as Sant’Agata d’Agosto (in English, Saint Agatha in August).
This year, the Church in Catania recreated that historic homecoming. After a prayer vigil on the evening of August 16, the faithful began a pilgrimage before dawn, accompanying Saint Agatha’s relics back toward the cathedral as church bells rang throughout the archdiocese.
One of the most moving moments came when Saint Agatha’s skull was presented to the faithful by the Archbishop before being placed inside the Busto Reliquiario, the ornate reliquary bust in which it is traditionally venerated. Her other relics were returned to the scrigno, the silver reliquary casket.
Cardinal Parolin then solemnly crowned the reliquary bust of Saint Agatha as part of the ceremonies commemorating the nine-century anniversary.
Who is Saint Agatha?
Saint Agatha was a young Christian virgin and martyr who lived in Sicily during the third century. According to early Christian tradition, she
