Pope Leo XIV has written a letter marking the 900th anniversary of the return of Saint Agatha’s relics to Catania, Sicily. In the letter addressed to Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who was appointed Pontifical Legate for the celebrations, the Pope reflects on the witness of the young martyr.
“In the martyrdom of Saint Agatha, an illustrious example of fidelity to Christ and of love to the point of full self-offering, the ecclesial community contemplates the victory of grace over violence, of faith over fear, and of charity over death,” the Pope writes. Saint Agatha was tortured to death as a teenager for refusing to deny her faith during the anti-Christian persecutions unleashed by Roman Emperor Decius in the 3rd century.
Pope Leo notes that she participated in Christ’s Passion and shines as a “luminous testimony of the strength that the Lord instils in those who persevere steadfast in temptations and trials.”
The Pope writes that the “Santuzza” — “Little Saint,” as Saint Agatha is called in Catania — remains a “living presence that guards the Christian memory of the people and calls them to evangelical consistency of life, as well as to hope and charity.”Her presence, the Pope emphasizes, makes the communion of saints visible and “strengthens in the faithful the awareness that the pilgrim Church on earth is sustained by the intercession and example of those who have already become partakers of heavenly glory.”