Of the estimated 80,000 faithful present to participate in the Mass Sunday at the Vatican to canonize as saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, a local pastor was there to concelebrate with Pope Leo XIV as his way of honoring the new saint in particular that he credits with saving his life.
“With joy I celebrated with Pope Leo the canonization Mass at St. Peter’s Square today,” Father Henry Zinno, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Mary parishes, both in Bristol, said in a phone interview from Rome with Rhode Island Catholic following the ceremony.
He described going through a very thorough series of security checkpoints earlier that morning for priests seeking to concelebrate with Pope Leo XIV, and was thrilled to be able to see the pontiff close-up as he went among the crowds in St. Peter’s Square following the Mass.
“There were so many young people in the crowd; it was incredible,” he said of the energy in St. Peter’s Square. He could see people lining up for the historic canonization all the way down the Via Della Concilliazione leading into St. Peter’s.
Father Zinno already had a devotion to then-Blessed Carlo Acutis when three years ago he visited the tomb of the young man, who died in 2006 at the age of 15.
British-born and Italian raised, the computer savvy teen used his technical skills to propagate the Catholic faith worldwide, especially among young people.
At Acutis’ tomb at St. Maria Maggiore in Assisi, Father Zinno, whose known heart condition had declined to the point where he required open heart surgery soon, prayed that he might be healed.
“I said, ‘Listen Carlo, you are blessed right now and need one more miracle to be a saint. I’m your man! When they open me up for my heart surgery, the doctors see that my aortic valve is not diseased at all but in perfect condition and there is no aortic aneurysm! And there is your miracle!’”
For more than 30 years, Father Zinno’s heart condition advanced from a heart murmur to a leaky aortic valve to a problem that required twice yearly monitoring. The extensive regurgitation became so extensive that surgery was warranted
“And in the meantime, they discovered I had an aortic aneurysm that needed to be removed, or I would die from both,” Father Zinno said.
“My first dire diagnosis was in March of 2020, right when COVID hit, and I was told to get to the hospital immediately. I sought a second opinion, and we did the tests and was told I could wait 12 months or so. I didn’t want to go and have open heart surgery during COVID and when no one of my family could be with me.”
He was directed by his local cardiologist to the best surgeons in the field for the type of life-saving surgery he needed, which was performed in July 2022 at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City by Dr. Paul Stelzer and two other surgeons.
Two months earlier, in May, he traveled to Rome on a sabbatical to Pontifical North American College. It was during this time that he sought the intercession of Acutis.
But while he was hopeful, Father Zinno, from 43 years in the priesthood, also understood God’s will is paramount to personal intentions. While at Acutis’ tomb, he prayed that the future saint at least accompany him on his surgical journey back in the U.S.
Later, as he was wheeled into the operating suite, Father Zinno had a joyful smile on his face, one which drew the attention of his surgeon as to why he seemed so happy.
“Instinctively, I knew Blessed Carlo was there,” he said. “I began to smile.”
The seven-and-a-half-hour surgery was a tremendous success.
“I have a cow valve now and the aneurysm was removed,” he said.
Although he was supposed to remain in the hospital for eight days, he returned to Bristol in six days.
He was soon back to his regular cardio, weight training and cross fit routines and soon running two large parishes, OLMC, where he has served as pastor for 23 years, and St. Mary, where, now at age 70, he has served the last three, since his surgery.
Each church has a feature devoted to one of the new saints. At OLMC, there is a statue of Acutis, with a backpack slung over his shoulders, while St. Mary has a stained glass window featuring an image of Pier Giorgio Frassati, an Italian young man who died in 1925 at the age of 24, lauded by Saint John Paul II as a “Man of Beatitudes.”
“Now, at 70 years old, I run two very large parishes with crowded Masses, totaling approximately 2,600 families, with a school, a cemetery, and 40 staff members, I’m living the dream,” Father Zinno said.
“I have gone back to Assisi every year to thank now-St. Carlo when I go to give cooking lessons at the Sabbatical for Priest Program each February. I am alive today with gratitude and grace because of my seeking his intercession and his being with me in surgery.”
