By Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Carlo Acutis was born May 3, 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 leukemia. 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 October 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 designated “Venerable” in 2018, and designated “Blessed” October 10.
Carlo Acutis is the first millennial to be beatified.
From a young age, Carlo seemed to have a special love for God, even though his parents weren’t especially devout. “I was not the ideal model of a Catholic mother,” Antonia told CNA.
Like many, Antonia’s faith was formed more by a culture of Catholicism than actual catechesis. But Carlo’s example challenged her. She reached out to a faithful friend for advice, who connected her with a priest, who encouraged her to take classes to further her Catholic faith.
Before that, she «was quite ignorant in the faith things,» she said.
Through the working of a priest she met through her classes, Carlo was able to receive his first Holy Communion at just seven years old–after which he never missed daily Mass, even while their family traveled.
Carlo’s love for the Eucharist formed his mother’s own devotion to the Sacrament.
“The source of the sanctity of Carlo was the Eucharist. He used to say the Eucharist is my highway to heaven,” said Antonia.
Nicola Gori, the postulator of Acutis’ cause for sainthood, said that Carlo loved God in such a way that invited others, especially those closest to him, to share in the Eucharistic feast.
“Just think, 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,” Gori told EWTN News.
Assisi, October 10, 2020. Sanctuary of the Renunciation. The body of Carlo Acutis is displayed on the occasion of his beatification under the pontificate of Pope Francis.
Before Carlo, Antonia said that she went to Mass only for her first Holy Communion, confirmation and marriage.
But by Carlo’s exemplary love for the Eucharist, “I started to go to Mass again,” Antonia said. “And this was actually because of Carlo. Carlo for me was a sort of little savior.”
As a young child, Carlo also 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.
He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages — to the places of the saints, and to the sites of Eucharistic miracles.
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.
“He was also a normal child!» his mother said. «He used to play with the Playstation. But he forced himself to play once a week only for one hour because he didn’t want to become a slave to these technological games. He wanted to be free.”
And he promoted Eucharistic miracles, especially through a website he built to promote them.
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 became ill with leukemia, 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.
For Carlo, this highest good of all was God and his will for his life. “Happiness is looking towards God,” he said. “Sadness is looking towards yourself.” One of his best-known pieces of wisdom says it all: “God and not me.” In Italian, the phrase has an even greater effect: “Dio, non io.” He also said, “Money is only ragged paper. . . . What counts in life is the nobility of the soul, that is, the way that one loves God and loves one’s neighbor.”
