Highway to heaven: Melbourne teens gather to venerate relics of ‘influencer’ saint
A Melbourne school received small portions of the remains of a saint who died as a teenager, and the students turned out to venerate them. The young saint has become an unusual draw for Catholics his own age because he embraced technology early, using websites and online posts to share his faith. Many people now describe him as an influencer saint, a title that captures both his age and his digital habits. The relics arrived in a small container that visitors could approach directly. Teenagers gathered around them during the school day, pausing to pray and reflect. For many of the students the visit gave a physical focus to a devotion they had previously practised only through prayer at a distance. Similar stops along the relics' travels have drawn large crowds of young people elsewhere.
Small portions of the remains of a tech-savvy, teenage saint were brought to a Melbourne school.