The Holy Cross and Blessed Sacrament parishes in Olyphant and Throop consolidated into one Tuesday, taking on a new identity and becoming one of the first Roman Catholic churches worldwide to name itself after the soon-to-be first millennial saint.
The two long-linked Midvalley parishes embarked on the consolidation process one year ago, culminating midnight Tuesday when they became the Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish. It will be renamed the St. Carlo Acutis Parish in September when the late Italian teen is canonized by Pope Leo XIV and officially becomes a saint, said the Rev. Scott P. Sterowski, pastor of the consolidated parish that encompasses 2,200 families.
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“We are probably one of the first parishes in the world to be named after Carlo Acutis,” Sterowski said.
According to the Catholic News Service, Acutis was born in 1991 and raised in Milan, where he used his technology skills to evangelize, and he was recognized for his “joyful faith and compassion for others” until his death from leukemia at 15 years old.
The Rev. Scott P. Sterowski, pastor of the newly consolidated Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish, poses for a photo outside St. Patrick’s Church, 200 Delaware Ave., Olyphant on Tuesday morning. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
Blessed Sacrament Parish, 215 Rebecca St., Throop. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
Acutis had used his computer prowess to create an online exhibit about more than 100 Eucharistic miracles recognized by the church over centuries, the Associated Press reported. Acutis was named “venerable” in 2018 after the church recognized his virtuous life; he was declared “blessed” in 2020 after the Vatican dicastery that studies sainthood recognized a miraculous healing through Acutis’ intercession when a child in Brazil recovered in a “scientifically inexplainable” manner; and the church paved the way to his sainthood last year when it attributed a second miracle to him — the complete healing of a Costa Rican student in Italy from major head trauma in a bicycle accident after her mother prayed at Acutis’ tomb, according to the AP.
The late teen was initially set to become canonized as a saint April 27, but the death of Pope Francis postponed those plans. Pope Leo will now canonize Acutis on Sept. 7.
Naming the parish after Acutis represents vibrancy and life in his church, Sterowski said.
“It speaks of a modern day witness to the faith that inspires not only young people, but people of all ages,” he said.
The former Holy Cross Parish and its St. Patrick Church, 200 Delaware Ave., Olyphant, and the former Blessed Sacrament Parish and its St. Anthony of Padua Church, 215 Rebecca St., Throop, first linked in 2010, Sterowski said. Under a linkage, parishes remain independent but share a pastor; a consolidation occurs when parishes unite into one under a decree by the bishop.
The consolidation process began around June 2024 when Sterowski was instructed by the Diocese of Scranton to organize a parish council that would look at the future of the parish “within the context of the present reality of where we were at that point,” Sterowski said.
“Through dialogue, through moving forward, looking at our parishes realistically, it was recommended that the two parishes in Olyphant and Throop be consolidated into one new parish community,” he said.
As part of the consolidation, parishioners suggested names for their new parish, with the top three selections submitted to the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, bishop of Scranton, who chose to name the consolidated parish after Acutis, Sterowski said.
“I was deeply moved to see that one of the top choices was Carlo Acutis,” Bambera said in a statement Tuesday. “His life and witness are already inspiring a new generation of Catholics, especially our young people.”
Bambera said the consolidated parishes have a combined 217 children in K-8 religious education and 79 more attending nearby Catholic schools.
“So this new parish is already full of young hearts eager to learn and live their faith,” he said. “Naming this parish after Carlo Acutis — soon to be canonized as the Church’s first millennial saint — will not only connect this vibrant local church to the universal Church — but will help its parishioners look to the future with hope, joy, and a missionary focus.”
The consolidation is part of the diocese’s Vision 2030 Pastoral Planning Process that “reflects an opportunity for two wonderful communities to come together more closely in prayer, fellowship, and shared mission as one family of faith,” the bishop said.
The Vision 2030 process — originally Vision 2020 — addresses the changing realities of the Catholic church in Northeast Pennsylvania across the 11-county diocese. Launched in January 2022, Vision 2030 revised the Vision 2020 plan and called for linkages and consolidations throughout the diocese. Vision 2030 attributes the restructurings to significant challenges faced by the diocese due to changing demographics, including fewer parishioners supporting the mission of the church, financial challenges and parish infrastructure needs, and diminishing numbers of ordained priests as retiring priests outpace incoming ones.
The new parish is not the first time parishioners in Olyphant and Throop experienced consolidation. The former Holy Cross Parish came from the consolidations of the Holy Ghost, St. Michael the Archangel and St. Patrick parishes in 2010, according to the parish’s website. Likewise, Blessed Sacrament formed from the St. Anthony, St. Bridget and St. John the Baptist parishes in 2009. The latter also considers the former St. Mary Parish as part of its heritage, which closed in 1997.
Those consolidations came from then-Bishop Joseph F. Martino’s “Called to Holiness and Mission” plan.
Sterowski previously oversaw the consolidation of multiple Scranton churches that led to the formation of St. Paul of the Cross Parish in South Scranton, which later consolidated with the St. John Neumann Parish in November 2023 to form St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish.
That experience gave Sterowski a deeper understanding and sensitivity regarding how people feel about the process, he said, explaining he was cognizant of parishioners’ feelings of having to “let go of certain things that, for them, were very important and sacred in their lives,” he said.
“Change is not easy in any shape or form,” he said.
While the consolidation process at some parishes has included selling off church property, Sterowski said his parish only has its two churches and their rectories, with other churches, buildings and convents already sold under previous pastors.
The only new impact from the consolidation is one less weekend Mass in Throop, he said.
Looking ahead, he said his parish plans to hold a mix of family-centered and liturgical-centered special events to celebrate Acutis’ canonization in September.
“Blessed Carlo Acutis speaks to our modern age that holiness is possible at any age, and his life, his source of holiness, was a life centered upon the Eucharist, upon devotion to Mary and a life of prayer that prompted him to reach out to the poor, to catechize young people and to live a life of charity and love in the midst of the world,” Sterowski said.