November 17, 2025 // Diocese

Oratory of St. Carlo Acutis Opens in Angola

Scott Warden

Editor-In-Chief

Years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic changed things, the clergy and parishioners of St. Anthony of Padua in Angola held daily Mass in a small chapel with an entrance at the rear of the church.

“When COVID hit, we started having weekday Masses in the church,” parishioner Patricia Geise said, “and we never came back.”

That changed on the morning of Friday, November 7, when, after years of planning and months of renovation to that space, the St. Anthony of Padua community gathered to celebrate the opening of the Oratory of St. Carlo Acutis, where the faithful of the parish will be able to sit and pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The parish’s pastor, Father Osman Ramos, and its parochial vicars, Father Jorge Sis and Father Raul Marroquin – all members of the Franciscans of Mary – celebrated and concelebrated a special Mass to open the oratory, after which they and scores of the faithful joined in a Eucharistic procession to carry Christ, fully present in the Eucharist, to the oratory, where they place Him in the tabernacle.

Father Ramos said that when he arrived at St. Anthony of Padua three years ago, the space for the oratory was available but “it wasn’t in good shape,” he said.

He said the challenge, initially, was overcoming the cost of the project.

“The first plan was expensive, because we wanted something beautiful, with a huge renovation, but we didn’t have the money to do it.  So, first, we prayed, asking the Lord, ‘What do you want us to do with the oratory?’ We felt the will of Jesus was to do something beautiful but simple at the same time. … That was the biggest challenge, but it’s possible to do beautiful things even though you don’t have a lot of money. It’s about good taste and having the right people who love to help.”

Eventually, Father Ramos and the community settled on a plan.

“With the parish council and the finance council, we decided to do something new. It’s been a process of three years. A lot of people shared many ideas … and we decided, with the permission of Bishop Rhoades, to have this Oratory of St. Carlo Acutis.”

The idea to name it after one of the Church’s newest saints – and one of its youngest – came from Bishop Rhoades himself. It was “a blessing from the Lord,” Father Ramos said, as he had recently received a relic and a photo of then-Blessed Carlo.

After talking to Bishop Rhoades, Father Ramos said he presented to leaders of the parish, “And they said, ‘Of course! That’s a wonderful idea.”

At the oratory’s official opening, the newly renovated space was packed with members of the faithful. Father Ramos is optimistic that enthusiasm will continue. He said the goal of the entire project – his “biggest dream” – is “to make people a more Eucharistic people, centered on the holy Eucharist. I’d like to see my people … rooted in the holy Eucharist, because I think that’s the key to obtaining holiness.”

Katie Waltke, the business manager at St. Anthony of Padua, told Today’s Catholic that the opening of the oratory is “a great opportunity for our parishioners at St. Anthony and St. Paul to come and pray after hours. We lock up the church after we leave for the day, and we have a lot of people who work during the day and want to come and pray and be with the Lord at all hours. The outpouring we’ve received, and the excitement to get this built, has been an eye-opener. It’s been something we’ve really wanted. It’s very exciting.”

Two other parishioners, Patricia Geise and Jack Bradley, spoke with Today’s Catholic and echoed that excitement.

Geise said she is part of the Seven Sisters apostolate, whose members commit to a Holy Hour each day to pray for a specific priest. Geise said her day to pray for Father Ramos is Friday, but because it is the priests’ day off, there is no daily Mass and the church is locked.

“I am really looking forward to the opening of the oratory, because sometimes I’ve had to turn on EWTN’s Eucharistic adoration to pray before the Blessed Sacrament,” Geise said. “I am very, very grateful from that perspective. But, just like Father Osman said in his homily this morning, we need to have an intimate relationship with the Lord. And what better way is there than to spend time before Him in the tabernacle?”

Geise added, “It’s just a praise of glory to God; it really is.”

Bradley told Today’s Catholic that the Oratory of St. Carlo Acutis will allow more people to spend time before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

“People who work during the day don’t have a chance to do what we’re going to be able to do here, and that’s to be able to come in, sit here with Jesus, talk to Him, and be quiet. To have 24 hours of this – it’s amazing. … It’s really a blessing for all of us.”

Father Ramos told Today’s Catholic that he hopes the oratory and the witness of its patron saint, St. Carlo, inspire the young people of the community – and their parents – to grow closer to Christ and His Church.

“I think we need to help the parents to come back to the Church, to remind them the importance of our values in the Christian life,” Father Ramos said, “because the children, they have the example of the parents, and they’re going to do what the parents do. So … strive to be holy, strive to bring your children to the Church, strive to be a good example in life.”

He continued, saying that despite the challenges young people face today, “It’s possible to be closer to Jesus, it’s possible to be saints, it’s possible to change, maybe not the world, but maybe our world, as St. Carlo Acutis did. … He didn’t do huge things in the world; he tried to change the world around him. That’s holiness.