Carlo Acutis, a Catholic Italian teenager who died in 2006, was beatified Oct. 10, 2020, in Assisi, Italy. A gamer and computer programmer who loved soccer and the Eucharist, he has become well known throughout the world.

So who is Blessed Carlo? Here’s what you need to know:

1. Carlo Acutis was born May 3, 1991, in London, where his parents were working. Just a few months later, he moved with his parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, to Milan, Italy. 
2. Carlo was diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager. He offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church, saying: “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the pope, and the Church.” 
3. He died on Oct. 12, 2006, and was buried in Assisi, at his request, because of his love for St. Francis of Assisi. His cause for canonization began in 2013. He was declared “Venerable” in 2018 and was declared “Blessed” on Oct. 10, 2020. 
    
4. From a young age, Carlo had a special love for God, even though his parents weren’t especially devout. Antonia Salzano, his mom, said that before Carlo, she went to Mass only for her first Communion, her confirmation, and her wedding. But as a young child, Carlo loved to pray the rosary. After he made his first Communion, he went to Mass as often as he could, and he made Holy Hours before and after Mass. He went to confession weekly. He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages — to the places of the saints and to the sites of Eucharistic miracles. Salzano spoke to EWTN News Nightly on Oct. 2, 2023, about her son’s devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She said: “He used to say, ‘There are queues in front of a concert, in front of a football match, but I don’t see these queues in front of the Blessed Sacrament’ … So, for him the Eucharist was the center of his life.”
5. Carlo’s witness of faith led to a deep conversion in his mom, because, according to the priest promoting his cause for sainthood, he “managed to drag his relatives, his parents to Mass every day. It was not the other way around; it was not his parents bringing the little boy to Mass, but it was he who managed to get himself to Mass and to convince others to receive Communion daily.” 
6. He was known for defending kids at school who got bullied, especially kids with disabilities. When a friend’s parents were getting a divorce, Carlo made a special effort to include his friend in the Acutis’ family life. 
7. He was also a programmer and built a website cataloging and promoting Eucharistic miracles. On the site, he told people that “the more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.”
8. Carlo loved playing video games. His console of choice was a PlayStation, or possibly a PS2, which was released in 2000, when Carlo was 9. He only allowed himself to play games for an hour a week, as a penance and a spiritual discipline, but he wanted to play much more. 
9. Initially, there were reports that Carlo’s body was found to be incorrupt. A spokeswoman for his beatification told CNA that the entire body was present when it was exhumed but “not incorrupt.” His body, however, lies in repose in a glass tomb where he was venerated by pilgrims until Oct. 17, 2020. He is displayed in jeans and a pair of Nikes, the casual clothes he preferred in life. 
10. His heart, which is now considered a relic, is displayed in a reliquary in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. St. Dominic Parish in Brick, New Jersey, also received a first-class relic from Carlo’s mom on Oct. 1, 2023. After the celebration of Mass, Salzano took the relic of her son from the hands of Bishop David O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton, and together they processed to the narthex, where a new shrine to Acutis was blessed. In her remarks to the faithful gathered for the celebration, Salzano declared: “Sainthood is for everyone. Carlo became a saint by practicing the seven theological and cardinal virtues.” She emphasized: “This is what makes us all saints.”

This article was originally published Oct. 20, 2020, and was updated Oct. 11, 2023.

Inspiring words from a young man on the road to sainthood.

By Alyssa Murphy

As the world learns more about Carlo Acutis as he was beatified Saturday, Oct. 10 in Assisi, here are some words of wisdom from this young man who died at the age of 15 from Leukemia. May we all learn from his example. Thanks be to God for this beautiful witness of faith, hope, and love.

1. “The Virgin Mary is the only woman in my life.”

2. “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.”

3. “By standing before the Eucharistic Christ, we become holy.”

4. “There are people who suffer much more than me.”

5. “Continuously ask your guardian angel for help. Your guardian angel has to become your best friend.”

6. “Do not be afraid because with the Incarnation of Jesus, death becomes life, and there’s no need to escape: in eternal life, something extraordinary awaits us.”

7. “Jerusalem is right on our doorstep.”

8. All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies”

9. To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan”.

10. “Sadness is looking at ourselves, happiness is looking towards God.”

11. “Not me, but God.”

12. “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven”.

13. “The only thing we have to ask God for, in prayer, is the desire to be holy.”

14. “Our soul is like a hot air balloon. If by chance there is a mortal sin, the soul falls to the ground. Confession is like the fire underneath the balloon enabling the soul to rise again. . . It is important to go to confession often.”

15. “I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a minute on those things which do not please God.”

16. “Our goal must be infinite, not the finite. The infinite is our homeland. Heaven has been waiting for us forever.”

17. “The Eucharist is the highway to heaven.”

17 Inspiring Quotes from Carlo Acutis

On Saturday 10^th October Venerable Carlo Acutis will be beatified (declared to be a Blessed) in Assisi, in the Basilica of Saint Francis.  He was buried in Assisi in 2006 at his request because of his love for Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the poor.

Carlo Acutis was born 3^rd May 1991, in London, where his parents were working.  Just a few months later, his parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, moved to Milan.  As a teenager, Carlo was diagnosed with leukaemia.  He offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church, saying “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.”

He died on 12^th October 2006, and was buried in Assisi, at his request, because of his love for Saint Francis of Assisi.  His cause for canonization began in 2013.  He was declared “Venerable” in 2018, and will be declared “Blessed” on Saturday.

From a young age, Acutis seemed to have a special love for God, even though his parents weren’t especially devout.  His mother said that, before Carlo, she went to Mass only for her First Communion, her confirmation, and her wedding.

As a young child, he loved to pray the rosary.  After he made his First Communion, he went to Mass as often as he could, and he made Holy Hours before or after Mass.  He went to confession weekly.  As he grew older he began to go to Mass daily, often bringing his parents along.  He made the Eucharist the centre of his life, and he directed towards the most needy the love that God poured out through him.  He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages — to the places of the saints, and to the sites of Eucharistic miracles.

Among his friends was Sister Giovanna Negrotto, a missionary religious sister, who is now 86 years old and one of the people who shared her memories of Acutis at the event in Assisi.  She said that Acutis took great interest in her missionary work in India, asking to see photos of “my great leper friends.”  She said the last question that Acutis had asked her was: “What do you think?  Is God more pleased with a service like this to the least of the world, generous and tireless, or prayer?”  Referencing Acutis’ parents, Negrotto said: “I will never forget that morning when you told me that Carlo had gone up to heaven and about how he offered his life for the pope and for the Church.  And then I realised that Carlo had already given the answer to his question.  Service, yes, prayer, yes, but no one has a greater love than someone who gives his life for his friends.”

It is for his great devotion to the Eucharist that Acutis is best remembered.  From his adolescence, Carlo prayed the rosary daily and in addition to other devotions, frequently spent time in Eucharistic adoration.  He said when “we face the sun we become tan … but when we place ourselves in front of the Eucharistic Jesus we become saints.”  Carlo died from a brain tumour in 2006 at the age 15.  The summer after his 14^th birthday he spent researching Eucharistic miracles and creating a website to catalogue and share the information with others.  Carlos wanted people to approach the Eucharist and for this he used the internet.

The website Carlo created was the genesis of The Eucharistic Miracles of the World, an international exhibition which highlights such occurrences:

www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html

On the site, he told people that ‘the more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.’

When Carlo got sick, his life of faith increased. He was intentional about offering up his suffering for the Church, the pope, and for people who were suffering with illness.  There was fruit of Carlos’ devotion in his life.  His witness of faith led to a deep conversion in his mother, because, according to the priest promoting his cause for sainthood, he “managed to drag his relatives, his parents to Mass every day.  It was not the other way around; it was not his parents bringing the little boy to Mass, but it was he who managed to get himself to Mass and to convince others to receive Communion daily.”

He was known for defending kids at school who got picked on, especially disabled kids.  When a friend’s parents were getting a divorce, Carlo made a special effort to include his friend in the Acutis family life.  Carlo also loved playing video games.  His console of choice was a Playstation, or possibly a PS2, which was released in 2000, when Carlo was nine.  We know he only allowed himself to play games for an hour a week, as a penance and a spiritual discipline, but he wanted to play much more.  He was also a programmer, and liked sports and the outdoors.

His body has now been exhumed and has been transferred to a glass coffin in Assisi, where it lies in repose and can be venerated by pilgrims until 17^th October.  He is displayed in jeans and a pair of Nikes, the casual clothes he preferred in life.

Beatification of Carlo Acutis

 

 

Article shared by Fr Simon Gillespie