The combined St. Anne and St. Ambrose parish in Crest Hill announced Thursday that it will be changing its name to St. Carlo Acutis Parish in honor of the newly named first millennial saint.

The two churches, which were officially merged into one parish in June 2024, have been operating under the dual name of St. Anne and St. Ambrose since the Diocese of Joliet combined them as part of its ongoing restructuring efforts.

Carlos Acutis died in October 2006 of leukemia at the age of 15 and was officially canonized by The Vatican on Sept. 7.

During his illness, Acutis spent his time creating websites to promote Catholicism by documenting “Marian apparitions and Eucharistic miracles around the world,” according to the diocese statement on the merger.

Acutis is the first millennial to be named a saint and the church has called him “a model for young Catholics.”

The official name change will take effect on Oct. 21 and be celebrated with a special Mass celebrated by Bishop Ronald Hicks at the St. Anne and St. Ambrose Church, 1705 Burry Circle Drive. The St. Anne building was closed permanently last year and has been placed for sale by the diocese.

The Mass will take place at 6 p.m. with a reception to follow, and is meant to signify a “new beginning” for the combined parish.

In the announcement, the diocese said St. Carlo’s “spirit, faith, and legacy lives and will live on in the years to come in the hearts and minds of the people of Crest Hill, Illinois.”

The Crest Hill church will be the second parish in the U.S. to take the name of St. Carlo, though the first is not far away. In 2021, a parish in Chicago comprised of the former St. Hedwig Church in Bucktown and St. John Berchman Church in Logan Square took the name Blessed Carlo Acutis after their merger.

St. Carlo was one of two saints canonized by the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV in a joint ceremony this month, the first such ceremony of his papacy.