Carlo Acutis soon to be canonized

Pope Francis has authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning a new miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, paving the way for his being declared a saint.

This was done after Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, met with Pope Francis, during an audience. Thepope will soon convene a consistory, which will also address the canonization of Blessed Giuseppe Allamano, a friend of Saint John Bosco and founder of the Consolata Missionaries; Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family in Canada in the late 19th century; and Elena Guerra, founder of the Oblates of the Holy Spirit in 1882.

Carlo Acutis will thus be the first saint to have “owned a mobile phone and an email address”: highlighted by Father Will Conquer, a priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) and author of the only book dedicated to him in French, revealing both Carlo’s technical skills and his connection to the 21st century. Pope Francis beatified this millennial (1991-2006) on October 10, 2020, in Assisi.

Eucharistic devotion

Born on May 3, 1991, in a more or less practicing Italian Catholic family, young Carlo grew up in Milan. He quickly showed a great interest in visiting churches, praying the rosary, the lives of saints, and the Eucharist. To the point that he asked to make his first communion before the usual age.

It was the former personal secretary of Pope Paul VI, Monsignor Pasquale Macchi, who authorized him to do so at the age of 7 after verifying his spiritual maturity at the request of his parents. From then on, young Carlo attended Mass and adoration daily, easily testifying to his faith without ever pressuring anyone.

For him, the Eucharist was “a highway to Heaven.” He believed and felt that Christ was present in the Eucharist exactly as He was in Galilee 2,000 years ago, and was astonished to see more people lining up for rock concerts than to enter churches. “In front of Jesus Eucharist, we become saints,” he said.

A computing prodigy

In everyday life, Carlo was almost like any other child. He loved football and animals. He befriended a household employee of Hindu origin and helped him become a Christian by answering his questions. With his friends, he was joyful and warm. Thanks to one of them, he discovered computing, for which he quickly showed extraordinary aptitude: as a teenager, he made films, created a website for his parish, and another for his high school. He was active in the chaplaincy.

At the age of 12, he began to use his computing skills to serve his ever-growing passion for the Eucharist. He decided to create a website listing, illustrating, and explaining 136 Eucharistic miracles confirmed by the Church. With the help of his parents, whom he increasingly brought to faith, he researched and traveled to photograph the sites. Two and a half years of work that shortly after his death resulted in a traveling exhibition, presented in numerous parishes (over 10,000 in the United States, according to the Carlo Acutis Association’s website) and shrines on five continents.

“I lived my life without wasting a minute”

A sudden leukemia took his life in a few days. Having enjoyed perfect health until then, he neither rebelled against the diagnosis nor the pain, and took care to console his loved ones.

He expressed the tone of his rare maturity and piety by proclaiming: “I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a single minute and without my actions displeasing God.” He died on October 12, 2006, and was buried, according to his wish, in Assisi, out of devotion to Saint Francis. On April 6, 2019, Carlo’s body was moved from the municipal cemetery to the Shrine of the Renunciation in Assisi. Opened on this occasion, the coffin revealed a body said to be “intact,” showing little decomposition.